Overcoming Trust Issues
by hardly loquacious
Summary: Jane comes up with a plan to get Lisbon to trust him. And he's not going to stop until it works. Sequel to Trust Issues. Friendship fic, and pure fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So this is a sequel to Trust Issues, a very fluffy sequel to Trust Issues. You don't need to have read the first fic to understand this one, but I feel that's it only fair to warn those of you who have read the first fic that this is completely different in tone and style (which is why I decided to make it a whole separate fic instead of continuing the original one). I got sick of writing more serious things and I've been wanting to write fluff for a while. Originally I was concerned that it might not be so accurate, character-wise, but then I decided, screw it. So this is it. Me writing fluff. I hope the characters aren't too out of character.

Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own any of these characters

-----

Overcoming Trust Issues

Patrick Jane walked out of his house with a spring in his step. It was a beautiful day and he had a plan. Okay, so it wasn't so much a plan as an idea, more of a goal really. But it was a goal he was sure that he could solve. He might have had moments of doubt before, but who could blame him? That had been on a cloudy day. Today it was crisp and clear. The sun was shining; the birds were chirping; it wasn't oppressively hot. Today was a perfect day to kick off his plan, as soon as figured out exactly what his plan was obviously.

But that was the sort of trivial detail that he could work out later. Today was the start of Operation Acquire Lisbon's Trust. So it needed a better name, not a problem. What about Operation Lisbon? Yes, he thought to himself as got into his car to drive to work, Operation Lisbon was good. Short, catchy, practical. Perfect.

But how to go about it exactly? It certainly wasn't going to be easy; the woman had more walls than a medieval castle. Not to worry, he wasn't discouraged. Not today anyways. Today he had a new approach, a rational and logical approach. He grinned, Lisbon would probably have been proud of him. So he didn't know exactly what would work in earning his reserved colleague's trust; what did he know? Well, he knew ways that certainly _wouldn't_ work. Why not start with those?

Charm. Lisbon was extremely wary of his charm. She always suspected that he was trying to manipulate her in some way, trying to gauge her reaction or treating her like some of the suspects they interviewed, trying to get something from her. That he was somehow invading her privacy and might see something she didn't want him to. So she tried her hardest not react. She closed herself off behind her walls to let him see as little as possible. He couldn't win her trust by being charming like he had with so many others. She was special.

Extravagant or lavish gestures. Sure she'd liked the pony on her birthday and had been upset when she'd thought he'd forgotten (that fact alone gave him hope for his success), but he knew if he made some grand gesture to try and prove his trustwrothiness she'd think it was all part of his act and that he wanted something from her. No, nothing too flamboyant for the by-the-book Lisbon, nothing that would make her embarrassed, or uncomfortable, or worst of all, feel that she was somehow in his debt. On a special occasion like her birthday it was fine, but for everyday life subtlety was required.

All of a sudden, alone in his car, in the middle of the morning rush hour traffic, Jane grinned. That was it! Subtlety. He was going to have to tone _down_ the charm and the little tricks. Not eliminate them off course, then she'd either think something was seriously wrong with him or worry that he was planning something. Besides, he certainly didn't want to suck all the fun out of this. But she had to be comfortable, relaxed, and for that to happen she had to feel like she wasn't always under scrutiny.

So he would ease up on his constant analysis of her, fascinating as it was, try to let her keep her little secrets, and if he did discover them, leave them alone, let her think they were safe. Make her feel like her personal life was secure. She valued her privacy, and he had a feeling that part of the reason she didn't trust him was that she felt she had no control over what he saw or didn't see, a belief that he himself had cultivated. He figured Lisbon relied heavily on her ability to choose who got to see what, and when. Well, he could give it to her. And then when she trusted him, maybe she'd tell him on her own.

It was going to take a while, but it would be worth it. Especially if he was going to be friends with Lisbon, real friends, something he was becoming surer and surer that he wanted. He grinned when he saw her favourite coffee place up ahead. After all, there was world of difference between being charming and just being thoughtful.

-----

Theresa Lisbon walked into the CBI building in a good mood. It was a beautiful day, and the citizens of California seemed to have decided to enjoy the good weather and stay out of trouble. The team was between cases so there was nothing pressing on her mind, no mystery to solve, no crazy consultant's antics to worry about. Sure Jane got into mischief during their downtime, but it was usually in the office, actually it was usually related to a member of the team, so no one ever complained. Well, at least not officially.

Lisbon grinned. It was days like this that she could actually let herself enjoy Jane's company, at least a little bit. Not too much or he might get smug or take advantage, but after all, there were no lasting consequences to a few simple tricks to keep themselves amused on a slow work day.

Speak of the devil, there he was. He'd actually gotten there before her. Trust Jane to show up early on a day when they didn't actually have a case. With a sunny smile to match the weather he straightened up from his position leaning against her office doorway.

"Morning Lisbon!" He greeted her cheerfully. "Beautiful day isn't it? I stopped to get some tea on my way into work today so I grabbed you a coffee at the same time. Cream with two sugar right?"

"That's right." Actually, she was surprised he'd even asked instead of just giving her the drink and then watching her expression hen she realized it was perfect. "Thanks Jane," she said with a smile. That smile quickly turned wary, "Wait, please tell me you didn't do something insane and this coffee is some sort of bribe to get me on your good side."

Jane sighed mentally, this was going well. "So suspicious Lisbon. I'm shocked. No I have not insulted anybody, not since our last case when I told the owner of that software company his wife was having an affair with the gardener, and it was his fault for driving her away." He paused briefly when Lisbon cringed, but continued on as if nothing had happened, "I was in the coffee shop getting tea when I remembered that sometimes you got coffee from there so I decided to get you one, to be nice." He noticed she looked surprised at that, " You know as a sort of a thank-you for all the times you've bought coffee to soften up Minelli before telling him one of my plans. Is that why you thought I was trying to butter you up? Is coffee nothing more than a bribe to you now?"

Lisbon smirked in response, "Of course not. It's also a method of keeping awake during stakeouts and long nights of research."

Jane grinned, this was much better, "Not to mention an excuse for couples to spend more time together after a great date." When Lisbon blushed and looked embarrassed his grin got wider, he couldn't help it. "Don't worry Lisbon, that wasn't my intention. I can assure you this coffee is completely innocent. A gesture of friendship."

To his surprise she smiled, "Because seducing me over coffee would be sophomoric, wouldn't it now?"

Touché. Point to the petite law enforcement official with the smirk on her face. See this, this is why they should be friends. Bantering with Lisbon was _fun_, and they could both use a bit of fun in their lives, especially her. "Exactly. And now that I have given you your coffee, in its special ulterior-motive-free cup, I will leave you to your work." He needed to leave while he was still ahead.

"Thanks for the coffee Jane." Shaking her head when he shot her one last grin as he left her office, she sat down at her desk. Yup, today was shaping up to be a good day.

-----

Jane was acting strangely. Well, Lisbon amended mentally, strangely for Jane at least. He was acting almost normal by anyone else's standards. First he had brought her coffee this morning, for no apparent reason. Not that Jane was incapable of doing a nice thing for someone, but it wasn't usually so obvious. Usually nice things from Jane were wrapped up in some sort of kooky scheme and you didn't realize they were nice until afterwards. Then he had graciously offered to help Van Pelt move some of her computer equipment (earning himself a glare from Rigsby in the process, Lisbon had been amused to note). And now he was helping Cho go through some of the suspect files from one of their old unsolved cases, seeing if anything jumped out. At least he was reading them on his couch and not at his desk (why he insisted on having one, no one really knew), or she would have been really concerned. Oh, and to top it off when he'd caught her watching him he'd just smiled at her and waved. But it had been a nice smile, a friendly smile. Not the one designed to make her feel like he'd caught her at something. She'd smiled back and gone back to her own report, but she couldn't stop thinking he was up to something. "Stop it Lisbon," she told herself. "Maybe he's just happy because of the weather. Can't you just enjoy the calm? I'm sure it won't last."

Shaken out of her reverie by a knock on her door, Lisbon looked up. Jane poked his head into her office, smiling as always. "Hey Lisbon, the rest of us have decided to go out for lunch since it's such a nice day. You in?"

She wanted to, she really did, but if she stayed in for lunch then there was a chance she could get her paperwork done in time to leave early. Okay, maybe not _early_, but on time at least. She'd been planning on going hiking, or to the park, to get ice cream… "No, not today Jane. I brought my lunch, besides I want to finish up some stuff here today. You guys go ahead. Have a good time."

"You sure?" he asked in that wheedling tone of his.

But she stood firm. She'd been looking forward to an early day and wouldn't be able to take it if she didn't stay on schedule. "Yeah, I'm sure. Someone has to hold the fort here. Maybe next time."

"Alright," he said with a shrug, but for a second he almost looked disappointed. Then, almost instantly it was gone, "See you in a bit. Have fun with your paperwork boss."

She sighed as she waved to her departing colleagues. Sometimes being the responsible one sucked.

-----

Jane was intrigued. Lisbon was leaving early. Okay, well not so much _early_ as on time. Early for Lisbon. It was five o'clock and she was putting her files away and shutting up her desk. Plus she'd changed into jeans. Curioser and curioser. Was this why she hadn't gone to lunch with them when she'd clearly wanted to? Did Lisbon have _plans_?

Well this was a test of his resolve if ever there was one. He was dying to go over there and trick her into telling him where she was going. Depending on the answer maybe try and force her into taking him along. He loved annoying her. Seeing how much it took before she lost her cool. The moment when her expression changed and she couldn't ignore him made it totally worth it. Then she'd try and make herself look taller (not an easy thing to do), and more threatening in an attempt to intimidate him. But not today, the goal was to make him trust her, and that meant not prying. He could do that. He hoped.

-----

Inside her office Theresa Lisbon was also intrigued. She was leaving on time. She had changed her clothes. She wasn't taking work home with her. Jane must have noticed. She'd seen him watching her. But he hadn't dropped in to find out where she was going. Odd. Usually he was so curious about everyone's business that you couldn't keep him away.

She ducked into the bullpen on her way out Van Pelt and Rigsby had already left, but Cho and Jane were still at the office. "Well, I'm done for the day, see you guys later. Don't stay too late."

"Night boss," Cho said absently.

Jane looked up and smiled. "Have a nice evening Lisbon." Where was she going?

"You too." She'd answered. He'd been curious. She could see it in his eyes, but he hadn't said anything. What on earth was going on with Jane? She'd expected him to insist on going with her when he found out she was on her way to the park, or at least to try and make her tell him where she was going. Oh well. She'd decided on the park and at least now she could have a quiet walk with her ice cream. She wondered if they'd have maple walnut.

-----

Jane sighed and tried not to scowl. This plan had better work out, because otherwise it really wasn't worth it.

"You should have asked her where she was going man." Cho told him, still seemingly engrossed in his files.

"What do you mean?" Jane asked. Feign innocence. Yes, that would work. Cho would never notice.

The Asian agent smirked. "Lisbon. You should have just asked her where she was going."

"Lisbon hates it when I pry into her life." See, I'm being nice to your boss. You should appreciate that.

"She sure thinks she does anyways," Cho muttered more to himself than to the consultant. "When has that ever stopped you? I don't know what you're planning man, and I can't say I mind, especially since you trying to get on Lisbon's good side helps me with my workload, but you still should have just asked her where she was going. Now she's probably suspicious."

"I'm not planning anything." He wasn't! Why did everyone assume that he was? He wanted to be her friend. Was that too much to ask? And why did Cho have to be so perceptive? This is what comes of being friends with CBI agents.

"Whatever. I'm heading out. You coming?"

"Yeah, in a minute. Just want to finish up a few things here. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow Jane." Shaking his head Cho left the office.

Jane watched the younger man leave. Lisbon hadn't really wanted him to ask her where she was going had she? If she'd wanted him to ask her then either she'd wanted him to go with her, wherever she was going (unlikely), _or_ she enjoyed it when he tried to pry into her life, whether she knew it or not. But Lisbon didn't like it when he pried into her personal life. That he was almost certain of. But what about parts of her life that weren't so personal? Maybe she didn't mind so much if he pried into those…

He was fairly certain that she liked him, at least a little bit. And she certainly seemed to enjoy teasing him. She had a great sense of humour. They had enjoyed more than one private smile over something during a case. Did she like some of the verbal sparring and the games? Did this private woman _like_ the attention? It was a possibility he hadn't really considered when he'd come up with his plan. Huh. It looked like Operation Lisbon needed refining, and to do that he needed to be able to think, and for that he needed ice cream.

-----

Jane smiled as he stepped out onto the grass. Everyone knew that the park was the best place to go for ice cream on a summer's day. Plus, when he was done planning he could people watch, always an entertaining past time. He wondered if that woman over there knew that her boyfriend was going to propose. She seemed too relaxed to be expecting something like that, but you never know. Jane wished him luck. Or what about the two teenagers standing by the swing set near the dark-haired woman in jeans,.. the very familiar-looking dark-haired woman in jeans.

Oh Crap. Lisbon was here. Well this was going to throw a wrench into his plans. Cho was right, she was probably already suspicious. If we went up to her now she was going to think he was following her. He had a feeling that whether or not she enjoyed his company, she would consider following her around crossing a line. He turned around quickly. Maybe she wouldn't notice that he was here. It was a big park. There were a lot of people here. He could always go somewhere else for ice cream. Yes, that was it. He mentally patted himself on the back. Good idea Jane.

As he began to walk back the way he'd come he was stopped by a familiar voice behind him.

"Jane? What are you doing here?"

-----

To Be Continued (obviously)


	2. Chapter 2

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad people are liking the story because it's fun to write. Also, I own nothing.

Overcoming Trust Issues – Part 2

Lisbon smiled as she stepped onto the grass. It really was a beautiful day. Working through lunch had been totally worth it. She planned to get her ice cream in a minute; first she was going to enjoy being outside for reasons unrelated to a crime scene. She wandered aimlessly for a while, watching the people around her, idly wondering what was going on in their lives. She smirked; Jane must be rubbing off on her. Somehow the thought didn't frighten her as much as it probably should have. Lisbon could almost picture him there, walking beside her, telling her about the people around her, trying to catch her attention with their secrets. Of course she admitted ruefully, he'd probably also try to pry out some of her own.

Which isn't to say that she didn't enjoy his company. She did a lot of the time. For example, when he _wasn't _intentionally trying to provoke someone or, you know, putting himself in extreme danger with no regard for the consequences. Just when she thought he couldn't get more insane, he did something else. She laughed to herself, only Jane would approach a mobster and get out unscathed by helping him improve his golf game. Lunatic. She wouldn't be surprised if she went into work one day and learned that Jane had tried to infiltrate a fight club or something equally ridiculous. Actually, the mental image of Jane in a fight club wasn't just ridiculous; it was _hysterical_, especially if he kept the three-piece suit.

Speak of the devil, was that Jane over there? What on earth was he doing here? Had he followed her? Is that why he hadn't asked her where she was going? He'd decided to just follow her around? _Or…_ her less paranoid self pointed out, maybe he simply hadn't asked her because he figured she wouldn't tell him anyways. But that didn't make sense. He almost always succeeded in prying _something_ out of her. On the other hand, if he was following her to keep hidden, then standing in plain site where she could see him was a terrible plan. Huh. Maybe this was just a coincidence. Her less paranoid self agreed wholeheartedly. But what did she do now? She supposed she could pretend she hadn't seen him, but if he did know she was here then he'd notice. Besides, she found that she didn't really feel like ignoring Jane today.

She made her way across the lawn towards the consultant, noticing that, he seemed to be really interested in the tree behind him. She didn't know why, it was just a maple, there were millions of them. "Jane? What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice curious. Having finally won the argument, her less paranoid self couldn't help pointing out that it _was_ a popular park and Jane likely had way better things to do than follow her around all day. Probably. She hoped.

"Lisbon! Hi!" He smiled quickly, and for a second she thought he looked almost nervous. "Just out for a walk. Thought I'd get some ice cream. It's such a nice day I didn't want to be cooped up inside."

Please buy this, he thought to himself. He really couldn't believe his luck. On the day he was actually telling the truth, his earlier behavior had probably struck her as so strange that she might not believe him. It was times like these that he wondered if maybe the gods did exist, because they clearly loved messing with him. It must be his karma.

Lisbon decided to ignore her lingering doubts. Sure it was a bit suspicious, but where was the harm in it? She had to admit that she wouldn't mind the company. So she smiled, "Me too. It's why I cut out early, well _earlyish_. I love it here, and they have the best ice cream in the city."

Jane grinned. She really did love it here, you could tell. She was more relaxed, freer. She wasn't quite so tightly wound, like those rare moments at the office when she let herself go just a little. If he'd known all it would take was a trip to the park he would've suggested a picnic long ago. A picnic with Lisbon… now there was an interesting idea. She was probably one of those people who packed everything in labeled Tupperware containers and had to make sure the blanket was unfolded and straight before putting anything on it. "I take it you're fond of the ice-cream stand over there?" He said gesturing over her shoulder to the large pink and white building behind her. It looked about 40 years out of date, but the line out front indicated it was clearly popular.

She laughed somewhat self-consciously. "Yeah, found it the summer after I first moved here. I was looking for somewhere to get ice-cream. Real ice-cream, not that overly sweet stuff you get at Dairy Queen and most of the other commercial chains. I've been coming here every so often ever since. You?"

"Come on Lisbon, everyone who's lived in California any time at all knows the best place to get ice-cream on a summer's day is at Reggie and Ruby's over there."

"Really? Because most of the people I talk to haven't heard of it."

And that, Jane thought, is reason #542 why we should be friends. "Well, clearly you haven't been spending your time with the right kind of people. This needs to be remedied immediately. I think I need to take you in hand." He laughed when she rolled her eyes. "Now tell me, just who are these jokers who don't even know where to get a good scoop of ice-cream in the summertime?"

"Well, Rigsby and Cho for a start," she answered dryly.

He should have known. Great guys, both of them, but he suspected neither of them would know good ice-cream if they were dumped in a vat of it and told to eat their way out. "Okay. First of all, Cho doesn't really strike me as the ice-cream type, far too frivolous for our brusque friend, and Rigsby, Rigsby will eat anything you put in front of him as long as it isn't heavy on the vegetables. _Of course_ they wouldn't know where to get good ice-cream. I, on the other hand, apart from this place happen to know a place downtown where they make homemade ice-cream, and you can't find some of the flavours anywhere else."

She nodded, "The Ice-Cream Shoppe, beside the florist on Queen St. But it's not open now."

He looked at her surprised and pleased, "Why Agent Lisbon, I'm shocked. How long has this been going on? I never would have pegged you for an ice-cream addict."

"Why? Too frivolous?" She shot back. What did he think, that she was so uptight she couldn't enjoy a little ice-cream once and a while?

Jane shook his head. She was insulted, interesting. "No, not too frivolous, too unhealthy," he clarified. "You don't strike me as the sort of person who lets herself indulge all that often."

She sighed. It was true, but did he have to make it sound like such a crime? "You say that like it's a bad thing that I don't gorge on ice-cream Jane. I hate to break it to you, but that's actually healthy. Any doctor will tell you, everything in moderation. I have it every so often, but I'm certainly not going to start having a bowl every night!"

"Making the times that you do go out for ice-cream all the more special. Come on, line's thinning out, let's go grab some." He thought about offering her his arm, like gentleman of yore had done when they walked with ladies in the park, if only to see her face when he did it, but decided against it. Somewhere during the conversation she'd gone from relaxed to defensive. For some reason she always seemed to think he was judging her, and at least in her mind she never came up looking all that good. He wanted her relaxed again, not irritated.

She simply nodded, accepting the unspoken apology. Maybe she was a little touchy. She was a bit sick of being criticized for following the rules. Someone in her job had too, didn't mean she couldn't have fun. One of these days she was going to snap, stop caring about whether or not she was being professional and do something ridiculous, stop being so responsible and just let her wilder side go. And then what would Jane say? She smiled to herself, what would Jane think about some of the things she'd gotten up to at college? Glancing at him from the corner of her eye she noticed unsurprisingly that he was watching her, mulling something over. "What?"

"Hm? Oh, I wasn't insulting you before Lisbon."

"What? When?"

"When I said you don't let yourself indulge that often. I wasn't insulting you. You cherish the things in your life. You don't take them for granted. You treasure them, and you protect them. It's part of what makes you such a great boss. It's not a bad thing. You're blushing. You blush very easily you know."

"Shut up Jane. But thank-you."

"You're welcome." He decided to lighten the tone, so he sent her a smile, "So you never answered my question, how long has this ice-cream mania been going on?"

He would come back to that. She guessed she could lie, but he'd probably know. "My mother used to take my brothers and me to get ice-cream every other Sunday after church."

"Oh." Crap. He should have seen that coming. Lisbon hated talking about her family. Everyone who knew her knew that. He hadn't even heard about her mother's car crash directly from her, Cho and Rigsby had filled him in one day after Lisbon took a case involving a drunk driver particularly hard. Okay, new subject… Why couldn't he think of anything?

Jane looked uncomfortable, like he was sorry he'd brought it up. Wait a minute, _Jane_ looked uncomfortable? What on earth was going on with him today? To ease his mind she continued. It was easier somehow to talk about her family out here, in the park, with Jane. "There was this little old-fashioned ice-cream parlour a couple of blocks from the church. Every other week in the summer, if it wasn't raining, my mother would buy me, my brothers and herself all cones of ice-cream, with sprinkles, and we'd sit and eat them on the porch in the sun. My love of ice-cream was developed early. Besides, it's not entirely unhealthy you know. It has calcium in it, very important to ward off osteoporosis."

He grinned, despite the initial unfavourable outlook, Operation Lisbon appeared to be working. Who knew _not_ prying would work so well? "I see you're in so deep that now you're justifying your addiction." That woman was more eloquent with a single glare then most people were in a lifetime. "What happened when it was raining? Did that mean you went for ice-cream the next week instead?"

"Nah, if it was raining we missed our chance." She laughed, "The number of times my brothers and I argued that it wasn't raining hard and we were sure it would stop before we even got to the ice-cream parlour… Every so often my mother let us get away with it, but mostly not. She said that there were only so many sunny Sundays."

"She cherished the things dear to her as well," he said softly. He wanted to get a look at her eyes, but she was looking just off to the side.

Lisbon laughed shakily, "Either that or she was concerned about our health. Probably a bit of both. My brothers and I went a couple of times after, well, after. But it was never the same, and so the tradition just sort of got lost."

"But you'll always love ice-cream."

"Yeah." She said, with a smile, "Yeah."

Noticing they were at the front of the line, Jane decided a conversation change was in order. "Hi, I'd like a scoop of Belgian chocolate and a scoop of mint chocolate chip in a cone please, and the lady will have…"

"Oh, I can get it Jane."

"Nonsense, that would be ungentlemanly of me Lisbon. What'll you have?"

"_Jane_."

"Just let me do this for you Lisbon. Let me do a nice thing for you. If you really feel bad about it you can get the ice-cream next time."

"Fine," she said huffily.

Jane grinned in triumph. He wondered if she realized that she'd tacitly agreed to go for ice cream with him again. The elderly gentleman currently handing him his cone certainly had, if the wink he'd shot Jane when Lisbon wasn't looking was anything to go by. Jane winked back. It felt nice to have an ally, even if they were anonymous.

Lisbon appeared to have finally made up her mind, "I'll have a scoop of maple walnut in a cone please."

"And for your second scoop dear?"

"_Jane._"

"Lisbon, you're getting two scoops, so don't even bother arguing. If you won't pick then I'll just get you a second scoop of maple walnut." And then, because he knew it would get her, "Indulge."

She glared at him, "Fine. A second scoop of maple walnut. _With_ sprinkles. But I'm choosing where we eat them."

"Anything you say dear." She would have stalked off, but she didn't have her ice-cream yet so she settled for her best murderous glare. Unfortunately Jane seemed immune. She should make him sit on the teeter-totter. Of course, knowing him he'd probably enjoy it.

Jane smiled to himself. Ah, annoyed Lisbon, a sight he was very familiar with. He infinitely preferred it to self-conscious or defensive Lisbon. He cheerfully paid the vendor, who was by this point, clearly trying not to laugh aloud.

"Alright, where to?"

Deciding to forgo her teeter-totter idea, after all, where would she sit then? Lisbon led him over to a picnic table slightly apart from the playground. "Alright, out with it."

"Out with what?" He asked innocently? He had a feeling he knew what she was talking about, but it was more fun to feign ignorance.

"What does my choosing Maple Walnut tell you?"

He grinned. "What do you think it tells me?"

She sighed, "I don't know Jane. I'm not the mentalist here…" When he kept grinning at her, she felt the need to continue, "I didn't opt for one of the flavours with chunks of chocolate or brownies in them, so I'm not very adventurous I guess. A fact underscored by my getting two scoops of the same type of ice cream. But hey, it could be worse, I didn't get something really boring, like vanilla."

"Well first of all, vanilla's not boring. It's a classic, but I see your point, served any way other than a sundae or à la mode with cake or pie it doesn't come across as your most thrilling flavor. Secondly, maple walnut isn't unadventurous, a bit old-fashioned maybe. It's simply more subtle than flavours with brownies or chunks of chocolate in them. You just have to look harder. Besides, you got sprinkles. So we're definitely talking about someone who's up for a bit of fun every now and again. And you got two scoops of the same type of ice-cream because you know what you want, and you go and get it." What do you say to that Agent Lisbon?

Desperate to change the subject she said, "So, guy by the flower beds, what do you think, long-distance trucker with a secret love of horticulture or mechanic waiting for his kids to be done on the swings?"

Jane nearly choked on his ice-cream, so intrigued by the sudden change of subject that he decided to let her get away with it. "Lisbon, you aren't analyzing the people around you are you? Because that sounds somehow familiar. Now what does it remind me of… it's coming… I can't quite put my finger on it but…"

"Shut up Jane. It's just a game, but if you don't want to play…"

Oh, that sounded like a challenge, sneaky Lisbon. "Alright," he said, "That guy over there? In the blue shirt? Well, he's not watching his kids, even the most dilatory of parent pays more attention than that if they care enough to go to the park in the first place. And he's unlikely a mechanic, no grease on his hands or his clothing. Odd, since at this hour it'd be likely he came straight from work if that was the case, not to mention the way he moves his hands isn't right. It's hard to explain. Truck driver isn't right either. His job is more active than that, but probably solitary, which is why he's come to the park, to be around people. I'm guessing night janitor, or maybe security guard used to patrolling regularly. Actually, given his posture and demeanor, security guard seems more likely. He's used to being in control."

"Wow, you sure sucked the fun out of that game," but she softened her censure with a smile. Say what you will about his methods sometimes, his conclusions were often impressive.

"Fine," Jane said in response, "I can be fun. Woman under the tree over there, exotic dancer forced into the business to support herself after the death of her parents, even though her dream is to be an environmental lawyer, or astronaut enjoying being back on terra firma after a two month sojourn at the international space station."

"Don't be ridiculous Jane." She paused, "Her movements are too fluid for someone who's been stuck in a confined space for two months and there's no way she's an exotic dancer with that haircut. _Obviously_ she's a zookeeper. The way she's holding her arm up like that, most people would assume she was just trying to keep the sun out of her eyes, but it's a reflex from having to hold large birds of prey. Besides, her parents are still alive. You can tell by the length of her stride, and no one who wanted to be an environmental lawyer would ever wear that shirt.

"Are you mocking me?" He asked with twinkling eyes.

"Absolutely." She replied.

"Good. So, guy over there, televangelist or theoretical physicist on the brink of discovering the secret behind the beginning of the universe if only his funding doesn't fall through?"

-----

Lisbon finished her ice-cream as the sun began to set. "I should get going," she said.

Jane nodded, "I'll walk you to your car."

She thought briefly about arguing as she stood up, stretching. Part of her wanted to tell him it wasn't necessary, but he'd just do it anyways. Besides, the other part of her didn't really mind so she just nodded and gestured in the direction her car was parked in.

"This was nice." Jane said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. It was." She agreed.

"We should do it again sometime. Go for ice-cream. Make it a thing."

Lisbon considered this. Ice-cream _was_ more fun when you weren't alone. "Like a regular thing?"

"Sure, once a month maybe. First Monday of every month or something."

She shook her head, "No. Our jobs are too unpredictable for that. First weekday of every month that the weather's sunny and we have no case."

Of course her way was much more practical. He should have expected nothing less. "You realize that means we can never miss a month."

Lisbon looked uncomfortable again. Why was she always so damn uncomfortable in his company? "Once a month won't hurt either of us. Unless you'd rather…"

He interrupted, "No, once a month sounds perfect. And you're right, if we did it any other way we'd never get to go what with our jobs and your work ethic."

She grinned, "Someone has to keep the team functioning.." Then gesturing to her car she said, "This is me."

"I know. See you tomorrow Lisbon."

"See you tomorrow Jane."

He went to walk away, but turned at the last minute, "Oh, and Lisbon?"

"Yeah?"

"I had a really good time tonight." Flashing her one last smile, he walked away whistling.

Lisbon shook her head as she got into her car, but she had to admit, she'd had a good time as well.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapters of the story. I appreciate it. To those of you who mentioned that it made you want ice cream, yeah, sorry about that. Unfortunately I don't think this chapter is going to be any better, well, you'll see. I'm fairly certain though that this is going to be the last of the food-centered chapters.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3

Lisbon walked into the office smiling for the second morning in a row. She was in a good mood. Shocking what leaving the office at a decent hour once and a while can do for a person's mood. Of course ice-cream certainly never hurt either. She wondered if anyone else on the team was in yet. She'd stopped on her way to work and gotten a round of coffees, well, tea for Jane, but coffee for everyone else. She'd felt like doing something nice for Jane after he'd bought her coffee and ice cream the day before, but then had decided that she should probably do something nice for the entire team. They were a good team. Maybe she should tell them that more often. The thought made her smile. She could just imagine their reactions. Probably they'd all look faintly shocked at first. Then Cho would thank her politely with only the faintest of smiles; Rigsby would probably get flustered, but be pleased, while Van Pelt would smile and puff up with pride while sincerely thanking her. And Jane, who knew with Jane? He'd probably continue to smile at her in that inane way of his. Of the two of them _she'd _probably be the more uncomfortable during the exchange.

Laughing to herself she walked into the bullpen. Unsurprisingly Cho was already at his desk. Surprisingly Jane was already on his couch. She put the first coffee down on the corner of Cho's desk. He looked up from the report he was reading almost immediately and flashed her a quick grin, "Thanks boss." She nodded in response and made her way over to Jane on the couch, so she didn't see the considering look Cho was shooting her.

She walked over to Jane's couch, wondering if he was asleep. His eyes were closed, but of course that meant nothing. She wondered if she should just give the couch a swift kick as she'd done before, but decided against it. She'd been annoyed at him then, she wasn't now, and if he really was asleep, well she didn't want to interrupt what precious little he managed to get. Why was everything with Jane always a dilemma? Lisbon felt like stamping her foot in frustration, but decided instead to opt for asking Cho if he knew if Jane was awake. Before she could even turn back around to face the other agent, Jane spoke.

"I'm not asleep."

"Why did you just let me stand there before you said anything then?"

"Eh. Don't know. Wanted to see what you'd do I guess."

Lisbon decided maybe a swift kick _was_ in order, grinning when he flinched. "Here's your tea Jane." Holding out the cup to him she waited for him to take it.

He opened his eyes and smiled up at her, "You didn't have to do that Lisbon. I wasn't expecting payback or anything."

She scowled almost unintentionally. "I know that Jane. That wasn't why…" Then she grinned, "Sometimes you should just let someone do a nice thing for you. Really Jane, you should stop being so _suspicious._"

He laughed and took his tea from her letting her score the point and deciding to enjoy happy Lisbon. Assuming an air of false innocence, he replied, "You're right. So sorry for my mistake. Perhaps you could teach me how that's done exactly?"

Lisbon just laughed and swatted her free hand in the general direction of his head as she walked away, unconcerned when she missed. Van Pelt was just arriving so she handed her the second cup of coffee, placing a third on Rigsby's desk, before taking the last into her office with her. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office," she called over her shoulder on her way out.

"Thanks for the coffee boss!" Van Pelt called after her; Lisbon just waved an arm in response.

Cho was still watching her, until she shut her office door, when his focus shifted to Jane. The consultant was currently drinking his tea, and looking in the general direction of Lisbon's office. He was smiling. Uh oh. Cho had seen that look too many times to mistake, Jane was up to something. Something big. Between last night and then this morning it was plain to see it involved the boss. Well that was an interesting development, and potentially a worrying one as well.

He waited until Van Pelt had gone into the lounge in search of milk and sugar before heading over to the couch.

"Look Jane, I know you're up to something. I don't know what it is, and as I said before I don't know that I really care, but if you hurt her then we're going to have a problem."

Jane looked at him, too startled to pretend he didn't know what the other man was talking about. "Cho, I'm shocked. I thought we had developed a bond."

"We have. I like you Jane. I wouldn't enjoy beating the crap out of you, but I'll do it if I have to. And after I'm done, I'd let Van Pelt and Rigsby have whatever's left."

"So you think the whole team would take part then?" Jane asked. Well this conversation was somewhat unexpected.

Cho just shrugged, he'd thought that would have been obvious. "It's Lisbon. We like you Jane, but she's,… she's…" He paused, searching for the right word.

"She's Lisbon." Jane finished for him. It was unsurprising that Cho would be so loyal to his boss, and he had no doubt that if he asked them Rigsby and Van Pelt would say exactly the same thing. It was just the type of person she was. He wondered if she had any idea. He guessed probably not.

Cho nodded. Excellent. Jane understood.

"Then it's a good thing I have no intention of hurting her." Jane said.

Well that was good, Cho thought, although he realized then that he'd _known_ that. He'd never thought Jane would _intentionally_ hurt Lisbon, that wasn't the problem.

"I want to be her friend," the consultant continued.

"Wait, what?" Cho thought maybe he'd better pull up a chair. "Let me get this straight, this massive plan that you're very clearly spinning…" He grinned when Jane looked at him inquiringly, "I've been working with you for a while now man. I can read the signs. Anyways, you're telling me that your whole plan is basically an attempt to _make friends_ with the boss?" He was grinning now, but he couldn't help it. The whole thing sounded absurd.

Jane looked at the other man wondering why he seemed to think it was so crazy. "Why not? I like Lisbon. She's smart, she's funny, and she's a nice person. I don't think she's adverse to my company. I think she could use a friend. I know I could. I really don't see what the big deal is here."

Cho got up smiling, oh this was priceless, and not something he had a problem with _at all._ In fact, he wholeheartedly supported this. Only Jane. "You're right man. It's not a big deal. I wish you luck." He stood up clapping the other man on the shoulder before heading over to his desk. "I'm just glad that I don't have to beat the crap out of you."

"Me too. Although you know, that does imply that Lisbon wouldn't have killed me already and disposed of the body."

Cho shrugged, "True, but then her reaction would have all come down to how you hurt her." Deciding this conversation was entirely too serious he added, "Don't expect me to join you guys when you're making friendship bracelets on the couch and watching chic flicks."

Jane smiled back, "Oh no worries. I feel like Lisbon'd be more one for makeovers anyways."

Cho couldn't help chuckling at that image… "Just don't call me when it ends up in tears because one of you fried your hair with a curling iron."

"Fine. We'll call Van Pelt. She'd probably have more helpful advice anyways."

Cho just nodded. Jane went back to sipping his tea and studying Lisbon's office, lost in his own thoughts. He wasn't bothered by Cho's threats. The team should look out for their fearless leader, and he knew none of this conversation would get back to anybody. Cho was good at keeping secrets. Besides, he found it oddly endearing that her team should feel so protective of a woman who always tried to convince everybody that she never needed any help.

"She likes dark chocolate." Cho said suddenly. "Really good high quality dark chocolate. She mentioned craving it once on a particularly long stakeout."

Jane looked over at the other agent surprised. Apparently behind the buttoned-down Agent Lisbon, Theresa had a bit of a weakness for deserts. "Thanks man." He told Cho with a grin. This new information had given him the beginnings of an idea. But how to get her there exactly?

His thoughts were interrupted by Van Pelt's return and Rigsby's arrival. "Coffee!" The young agent said enthusiastically.

"Lisbon brought some for all of us." Cho told him.

Rigsby nodded. He looked like he was about to say something when he was interrupted by Lisbon herself, "Minelli, just called me. We've got a case. There's been a murder downtown. Come on."

"On it boss." Rigsby said, gathering up the things he'd just put down. "Oh, and thanks for the coffee."

Lisbon paused from reading the file in her hands to glance at the younger man. "You're welcome," she said kindly. Then her tone turned clipped and authoritative, "What are we waiting for? Let's go." She marched out the door as the others hurried to catch up to her. Jane grinned and followed at a slightly more leisurely pace. She would've made a great drill sergeant.

-----

The murder victim turned out to be the husband of one of the local city councilors. He'd been killed in one of the restrooms in the city hall, apparently minutes after dropping off some files his wife had forgotten at home that morning. The councilor had been in a meeting with about 20 other people at the time he was killed, and so was currently not a suspect. Besides, Jane noted as he watched Lisbon taking her statement, the woman was obviously distraught, and nothing about her grief was an act.

"I just can't believe it," she told Lisbon distractedly. "I mean, he was just here. If Mike hadn't stopped by to give me those files… if I hadn't forgotten them this morning maybe…"

"You can't think like that." Lisbon told the woman softly, but firmly. "This was not your fault."

The widow looked up. "You don't know that! I'm the one who went into politics. I'm the one who might have enemies, not Mike. Everybody who met him liked him. He was an elementary school teacher. He loved kids. We were talking about starting a family and now…" She trailed off in tears as Lisbon handed her a Kleenex. "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"No need to apologize. Take your time." She paused, "So you can't think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt your husband?"

"No."

"Had he been acting strangely in any way? Even little things, coming home from work later than usual? Did he seem distracted?"

"No, nothing like that."

"What about you. You indicated that someone might have wanted to hurt you because of your job. Anyone specific come to mind?"

"No. I mean, there are people who don't like some of my policies, but I can't think that any of them were angry enough to kill. I could go over my files I guess, but…"

Lisbon nodded, "I think that's all for now. If you think of anything else just let us know. Do you need someone to take you home? We can arrange…"

"No. No thank-you. My assistant volunteered to drive me home. If you find anything…"

"I promise you'll be the first to know."

Jane watched from the corner of the room as Lisbon had Van Pelt fetch the woman's assistant, Todd Curtis, to take her home. Rigsby and Cho had been getting the man's statement and so accompanied him back to the room. Jane frowned when he saw him. The man looked upset to be sure, but there was something wrong… something about the way he was walking. Jane's frowned deepened when he observed Todd's interactions with his boss. His grief seemed almost overplayed. While Lisbon had been quietly sympathetic and compassionate in the face of the widow's clear distress this man seemed to be overly effusive and was invading her personal space. His own boss seemed to have noticed something amiss as well, raising her eyebrows at Jane from across the room. He nodded once. That was enough for her.

"I'm sorry Mr. Curtis, I just have a few more questions for you since you were one of the few people who saw the victim after he left his wife's office. If it's alright with you I'd like to get that over with now. Agents Rigsby and Cho can drive Mrs. Stanley home."

Jane noticed that Curtis looked like he wanted to argue, but one look glance at Lisbon's face convinced him otherwise. Well, at least the man wasn't a total moron.

"Of course." He said smoothly.

Lisbon waited until the widow had left the room. "If you don't mind Mr. Curtis, I'd prefer to do this down at the CBI. Just so it's official."

"Anything to help the investigation."

Jane grinned at that. Yeah right.

-----

"Well he did it." Jane said to Lisbon as they watched Curtis leave the CBI offices.

"Jane!" She said trying to sound scandalized. You don't know that. We have absolutely no proof of that."

"Oh come off it Lisbon. I know you think he's just as guilty as I do. It was creepy the way he practically pranced into the room earlier today."

Mentally, she had to agree, but unfortunately they couldn't arrest someone for being creepy. "Okay, but where's your proof? And why did he do it? We need something to go after him with before we haul him in here again. Most of the time people don't just up and confess."

"I don't know why he did it. Not yet anyways. Maybe he felt his standing with widow was threatened by her husband. We should get him back in here and ask him."

"_Or_ first we could find even a shred of evidence to support your theory before we grab him. If he did it to get closer to the widow he's not going to skip town and leave her behind. I'll make sure Rigsby and Cho keep a close eye on her. In the meantime Van Pelt can start watching the city hall's security footage so we know where both the victim and the suspect where after Mr. Stanley left his wife's office."

"And you and I?"

She smirked, "We're going to go find out what Mr. Curtis' colleagues thought of him. After all, we can't be the only ones who thought he was creepy."

-----

Lisbon rolled her neck back and forth over her shoulders in her chair. It had been a long couple of days. As they'd suspected Curtis had been the killer. She supposed she should be happier, most of their cases weren't this quickly solved. Apparently he'd become obsessed with his boss and was convinced that her husband was the only thing standing between them. The final interrogation had been emotionally draining. Lisbon had been glad it was Cho in the room and not her. Curtis had gone completely nuts, raving crazily about why he'd done it. It had been chilling. And the result, probably a lifetime in prison, or possibly a mental institution of some kind along with another family shattered. You never really got used to it.

She looked up to see Jane leaning in her doorway. "So you told the team to go home almost an hour ago because there was nothing more they could do and then stayed yourself."

"I had paperwork I needed to get done."

"Liar. Your report for this case was done before you dismissed the rest of us."

She decided to ignore that, but did feel the need to point out, "You stayed."

He shrugged, "Didn't feel like going home yet."

"Neither did I," she said quietly. "He was completely crazy Jane, and he destroyed a family just like that. They were thinking about having kids…" she trailed off. Then realizing what she'd said her head shot up in horror. "Oh god. Jane, I'm so…"

He cut her off abruptly, "I know. Don't worry about it."

"But.."

"Lisbon. Don't worry about it. What are you going to do? Never mention death in this line of work? Never talk to me about someone having a family? Never mention children? I'm pretty sure you have young nieces and nephews about my daughter's age. Are they off the table as a conversation topic now? Besides I know you didn't mean it like that."

"Still…"

"Lisbon let it go. It's alright. Clearly you need a distraction from this place. We both do. Come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked warily.

Well he guessed suspicious was better than guilty and apologetic. "It's a surprise." He sighed when she hesitated. "I'm not going to take you to a bridge and then push you off." He grinned, "God woman, stop being so _suspicious_."

She rolled her eyes at him, but she did get up out of her chair, grabbing her things on the way out. "Alright, but if you do push me off a bridge I'm taking you with me."

"Fair enough."

-----

Jane insisted on driving, and it was with some trepidation that Lisbon got into the passenger seat, but she figured she'd come this far, may as well see it through.

They were mostly silent as they drove, both lost in their own thoughts. They hadn't been driving long when Jane pulled over and parked the car. Lisbon shook herself out of her thoughts, glancing around her. "John St.?" She questioned. "Why are we here?" After all, it was just a little street in an older part of town with a few stores on it, most of them independently owned. It was very pretty, and it wasn't deserted by any means, there were still several shoppers bustling around, but she couldn't think of one could reason for Jane to bring her here specifically.

Jane smiled. "You needed to get out of the office. I felt like going for a walk. It's a nice part of town. Sometimes I come here when I need a change of scenery. It's quiet, but not too quiet. Besides, some of the stores are nice. If you want we can go into some, or we can just walk around for a while. It doesn't matter to me."

Lisbon considered this for a moment. It was a pretty street, and she didn't really feel like being alone right now; she could use the distraction from her thoughts. And Jane was certainly a good distraction. "A walk sounds nice," she said.

Jane nodded. "Which way?" He asked.

Lisbon shrugged. "Your street Jane, you pick."

So Jane turned gestured to his right and said, "There's a nice little art gallery down this way. We could head in that direction if you want."

Lisbon didn't say anything, just fell in step beside him. They walked along in silence for a moment before she asked, "So how long have you been coming here?"

"Oh, I've been coming here off and on for years, but it's only been the last couple that I've started coming more frequently. A couple of new stores came in, a used bookstore, nice antique place, the gallery, a few others… I don't know. I find it relaxing."

"You like to read?" Lisbon asked, somewhat surprised. Jane seemed to have too much energy and too much fun being around people to enjoy something as solitary as reading. There wasn't as much pageantry involved.

Jane laughed a bit her surprise. "I do. Don't read as much as I should. I've read the usual, a mixture of classics and then some of the bestsellers. I love Dickens, and a good mystery novel, but I'll try anything." Looking at her face he grinned, "Now why does that surprise you so much?"

"I guess I just figured you'd prefer something with a little more excitement, a little more interaction, like maybe the theatre." She admitted.

"Oh, I love the theatre, that moment when all the lights are off before the performance starts and you can practically feel the anticipation coming off the crowd, especially since every performance is different, so you never quite know what will happen. But it's not the same as a good book. Besides Lisbon, you'd be surprised what you can learn about human nature from reading novels. The people themselves might not be real, but if their emotions and their decisions often are."

"I know. I read a fair bit, I don't have time to do it as much as I'd like though. I just never really pictured you as a reader I guess."

"Well, to be fair I'm hardly dedicated. I suspect you probably read more than I do. Let me guess, favourite book: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice?"

She laughed, unbelievably pleased that he was wrong. "Close. Persuasion actually."

"I've never read it."

She wasn't surprised, most people hadn't. "You should."

"Why? Sell it to me."

Lisbon shrugged, feeling self-conscious. She wasn't used to sharing her personal opinions, "It's kind of hard to explain. It's about a woman whose family is basically horrible to her, takes her for granted and snubbing her despite the fact that she's clearly the best one of them. They convince her not to marry this guy they think is beneath her when she's 16 even though they're in love. Then he goes off to the navy and gets really rich, and comes back, but his pride is hurt, and he decides he's not in love with her anymore. Most of the book is about how she copes with it around all these crazy selfish people she's surrounding her."

"So it's a love story."

"An unorthodox one yes."

"But despite all that I'm guessing one with a happy ending." Because somewhere underneath all the walls and the pragmatism Theresa Lisbon still believed in the happy ending. He was sure of it.

"You'll just have to read it and see."

"I might just do that. What else?"

"Hmm…?" she asked, having suddenly lost track of the conversation, not uncommon when talking to Jane.

"What else do you like to read?"

"Oh, I like some of the classics, Bronte, Austen, Dickens too, Orwell, plus some of the lighter stuff like Oscar Wilde. My tastes are pretty eclectic. I read a bit of everything, mysteries, science fiction, you know."

"The odd romance novel?"

She blushed. Again. Damn him and his teasing ways. "Maybe sometimes. They're great when you need a distraction but don't want to think."

He grinned. He could see it, Lisbon curled up in a chair in her living room with a paperback in one hand, blanket over her shoulders engrossed in her silly romance novel. He wouldn't be surprised if she hid them somewhere out of the way in her apartment, somewhere where visitors wouldn't find them right away, so they wouldn't see her more frivolous side.

"Here's the art gallery. You want to go in or just browse through the windows?"

She shrugged, "It's nice out here. I'm alright with just looking through the windows. Some of them look lovely, but I don't know if I'm in the mood for art right now, unless you want to."

"Nah. I've seen them all a million times. The walk is nice. Why don't we keep going?"

They walked for a few more minutes before she smelt it. It was unmistakable. Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. She tried not to increase her pace. There was no need for Jane to learn about two of her secret weaknesses in less than a week was there? She started glancing around surreptitiously trying to find the source. She finally spotted her target a few stores up. It looked like one of those little chocolate stores from a commercial and proudly advertised "Hand-made chocolate: All kinds" in the window. It was heaven.

Jane almost laughed aloud. Lisbon clearly thought she was concealing her thoughts from him, but he'd have to be blind not to notice the way her eyes had been darting around like a goldfish in a bowl. Then she'd lit up when she noticed the store. Not that the stubborn woman would ever _say anything._ She could give a mule lessons. He guessed it was up to him. "Oh, Ogilvie's! Their stuff's great. I always stop by when I'm here. I love their pure milk chocolate. Do you mind?"

Lisbon scoffed internally. Milk chocolate. _Amateur_. "No. Of course not, that's fine. Let's go."

Jane watched her in amazement out of the corner of his eye when they walked in the store. Good Lord, the woman was practically _vibrating_. Thank-you Cho. He wandered over to the shelf and picked up a few of the wrapped bars, making sure that the ones he'd chosen actually were milk chocolate. In the meantime Lisbon was slowly drifting over to the display counter covetously eyeing all the specialty chocolates.

The saleswoman had clearly seen that look many times. She was over by Lisbon in a flash, having barely given Jane a second glance. "Can I give you a hand with anything?"

Lisbon looked up desperately trying to sound nonchalant, "Oh, I was just looking around. I've never been here before. I thought I'd get a couple to try. I'm still trying to make up my mind."

"Well then why don't you get an assortment?" Jane asked her. "That way you can find out what you like."

The saleswoman beamed at him. "An excellent idea. Why don't I get a box? How many do you think you'd like? They hold about 10, 30 or 60 chocolates.

Jane couldn't help throwing his two cents in again, "Oh, you've got to get more than 10 Lisbon. That won't give you enough variety."

Lisbon sighed, pretending to be annoyed at Jane's suggestion. It certainly wasn't hard given the amount of practice she'd had. "I guess I could get about 30 then."

"And what would you like? Or would you prefer if I just pick out a random assortment?"

Lisbon looked at the woman like she was insane. "No, that's alright. I tend to prefer dark chocolate, so we should probably stick to that. I'll have a couple of the ones over there with hazelnut in them, and a few of those truffles over there covered in cocoa, and then some of the pure dark chocolate squares, and a couple of the ones with mint, and…"

Jane could only watch in amazement as Lisbon had her box filled to her exact specifications in less time than he would have thought possible. The woman was as organized in her obsessions as she was at running her unit. He also made a mental note to never steal her chocolate. That might actually be the straw that broke the camel's back and cause her to finally kill him like she'd been threatening for years. He wandered over to the counter where the saleswoman was wrapping up the box. "I've always been more of a milk chocolate fan myself. I mean, I know dark chocolate is supposed to be better for you and all, but I don't' know… Look at this," he added, holding up a chocolate bar, "85% cocoa. Does anyone really need that much cocoa?"

He wondered why she was even still bothering to try and look casual anymore. "Oh, I don't know. The chocolate's a bit bitter, but it's still so much better than the other stuff. You thinking of getting one?"

"Nah. I don't think I will. I'll stick with my milk chocolate."

Lisbon put a hand on his arm to stop him, "Well if you're not going to get one I might, just to try one of the bars."

"Just to round out your sample of what the store has to offer," Jane added helpfully.

"Exactly." She beamed at him. Yes, it didn't sound crazy. It made perfect sense.

They made their purchases and left the store. Jane noticed that the saleswoman had discretely placed a business card in Lisbon's box, "In case you like them and ever want to get more." Lisbon for her part had simply nodded, as if she were merely considering the idea.

As they left the store, Jane noticed that it was getting late. He assumed Lisbon would probably want to cut the evening short, once she could focus on anything other than opening her precious parcel of course. "Well, I guess we should probably head back now. It's getting late."

Lisbon looked up, distracted momentarily from her treats. "Oh. Right." She glanced at her watch. "Unless you want to grab dinner or something." When he looked surprised she quickly plowed on, "It's just I don't feel like cooking and it's late. We don't have to. I mean, if you've got somewhere to be. I was just thinking we could go somewhere quick, but I can always pick something up on my way home."

"No, I don't have any plans. We passed a diner on our way here. We could grab something there if you want." He was surprised, he'd figured she'd want her space, but he was perfectly willing to extend their walk. He turned to steer them back in the direction they'd come.

"Sounds good." Lisbon said and then returned to trying to pry the tape off of her box. Jane wondered why she hadn't just told the woman not to put any on. When she got the last piece off and the lid open, she seemed to remember that she wasn't alone. "Do you want one?" she asked him, holding out the box.

"Right before dinner?" He laughed, "I'm surprised at you Lisbon."

She just scoffed, "One chocolate won't hurt anything. Are you having one or not?"

"Nah, I'm okay. I've got my chocolate bars remember. Besides, you got an assortment so you could figure out what you like; and I wouldn't want you to miss out."

"Oh, that's alright. I purposefully got more than one of all the kinds. Well, except for the pecan cluster. They only had one of those so you can't have that one. But if you want one of the others go ahead."

Jane glanced in the box. The chocolates did look good, and she was smiling. He didn't think she was offering just to be polite. He was to be allowed one chocolate. Actually, he realized, she'd probably bought extras because she'd assumed he'd try and sneak some. "Alright, what about that one? That's not the pecan cluster is it?"

"No, that's one of the ones with mint. It's safe." So Jane took his mint chocolate, and watched in amusement as Lisbon contemplated her selection, before finally settling on one of the truffles.

"Oh, this _is_ good," she exclaimed. "I might have to go back when I'm done these."

"And dark chocolate in moderation is supposed to be good for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's supposed to lower your blood pressure."

"Which is only high because of you anyways!" she retorted.

He shrugged, "Well, I may have caused the problem, but at least I've also led you to the cure." Come on, diner's over there."

-----

They'd eaten fairly quickly and then walked back to the car. Then Jane had driven Lisbon back to the CBI, watched her get into her car, and they'd both headed home.

On the drive Lisbon went back over the events of the day. She couldn't' believe it had only been that morning that they'd arrested a murdering psycho. It had felt like so much longer. Jane had effectively distracted her from her funk, and she suspected that he'd needed distracting as well, so really their little outing had been mutually beneficial. Spending time with Jane away from work where she didn't have to worry so much about his next insane escapade was a nice change of pace. Besides, she felt like she was actually getting to know the man a little.

Who knew Jane had a favourite place to buy milk chocolate? Actually, come to think of it, that was weird. When the team was away on a case and going out to dinner Jane always seemed indifferent to the chocolate desserts. I mean, he got them sometimes. He clearly liked chocolate. She'd seen him buy the odd chocolate bar, and sometimes he stole Rigsby's M&Ms (which Lisbon suspected was more to annoy the younger agent than anything), but she'd also heard him say that it wasn't his favourite.

As she got out of her car and walked up to the front door of her building it hit her. Jane had known all along. It hadn't been a coincidence that he'd initiated a walk that happened to go past California's most decadent chocolate shop. _He'd taken her there_. And then, he'd humoured her when she'd pretended that it wasn't her very own version of paradise. She hadn't hidden anything from him, because he'd planned _the whole thing_. She smiled to herself as she hugged her chocolate to her chest. Jerk.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I'm so glad people are liking this. There will probably be about 2-3 more chapters to go. It's going to be a bit slower going though. I have the ending written, but I'm not sure exactly how some parts of the middle are going to go. This was originally going to be longer, but I decided to post it as is because I probably won't be able to post anything else for the next three to four days. So, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4

The next morning Lisbon was the first to get into the office. She liked the quiet mornings before everyone else was there. It gave her some time to think and to get stuff done in peace. She sat down at her desk, booted up her computer and got to work. Slowly her team trickled in, all of them greeting her briefly when they passed her office. Jane was the last to arrive. Like the others he stopped by her office to say hello. Unlike the others the conversation extended beyond a quick greeting.

"Morning Lisbon."

"Morning Jane," she said distractedly without looking up as she scanned the file in her hands.

Well this was no fun. She wasn't even looking at him. He takes her to the best chocolate store in the state and then doesn't even warrant a glance the next morning? Okay, so she didn't know he'd done it deliberately, that was beside the point! He wasn't asking for extensive banter (although he certainly wouldn't mind it if she was in the mood), but she could at least acknowledge his presence. He doubted that whatever was in that file was so thrilling that she couldn't put it down.

"So," he began, but she cut him off.

"Just give me a sec." So he waited in her office doorway and tried not to fidget.

Lisbon almost grinned. Jane looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin. There was nothing he hated more than being ignored. Of course, he also had about as much patience as a five-year-old in a furniture store. She figured she had about another 30 seconds. She waited another 15 before looking up and giving him a smile. "Sorry about that. Departmental memo. They're so gripping that I pretty much have to give them all my attention or I completely forget their contents. Good morning Jane. What can I do for you?"

Well it was about time. Any longer and he would have grown a beard. "Can't I just stop by and see how our beloved leader is today? Do I always need a reason to be here?"

"You don't, but you usually have one anyways, even if it's only to annoy me."

He grinned, "No such luck this morning, although if you _wanted_ me to annoy you I'm sure I could think of something, even at is short notice. As it is, I just wanted to see how you were."

She smiled. Yeah, you wanted to see how I was. You also probably wanted to see how I'd act after yesterday. Whether you know it or not Patrick Jane, my lack of any special reaction is irritating to you. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking. You?"

"Oh I'm well," he paused. "Well, if that's all, then I guess I'll be going. I'm sure I'll be talking to you later."

"More than likely." She agreed. She went back to her memo and waited until he was almost out the door before asking, "It was Cho wasn't it?"

He turned back confused, "What was Cho?"

She looked at him again, and said very deliberately, "It was Cho who told you I loved dark chocolate, wasn't it?" She grinned at the surprised look on his face.

He recovered quickly, shooting her a grin as he walked into her office and sat down on the other side of her desk. "You love dark chocolate? Really? I'm not sure I… Oh, that's right. I remember you saying something to that effect yesterday to the sales woman…"

"Cut the crap Jane."

"… right before you started scooping up chocolates like a woman who'd found an oasis after two months in the desert."

She decided to ignore that, "So was it Cho?"

"Might have been."

"I figured as much."

"When'd you figure it out?" he asked, curious. He wasn't particularly surprised that she'd made the connection; she was a rising star in the CBI for a reason after all.

"Right after I got home and remembered that you don't actually like chocolate all that much. How'd you find the store?"

"I told you, I go walking in that area of town every so often. Besides, my wife used to love the stuff. My daughter too." He froze, surprised that had slipped out. Lisbon was just so damn easy to talk to sometimes.

"Right. You said that last night. That you went walking there I mean." Well this was awkward. She could count on one hand the number of times Jane had mentioned his wife and child to her, and they didn't tend to be associated with happy memories. He looked uncomfortable, she needed to keep talking like this wasn't a big deal before he got completely spooked. "Well, their stuff is great. I had a couple more last night. All of them were really good." So the number she'd eaten was more like five, how would he ever know?

"A couple?" Yes keep talking Lisbon, keep the conversation moving.

"Shut up Jane."

"Hey, I saw the way you were looking at your treasures last night. I'm surprised you even offered me one. Remind me never to get between you and your truffles."

"Actually, you could have had more if you wanted. I was anticipating you eating at least three."

He'd been right. She had compensated for his tendency to invade her space. He liked that, that she adjusted her life slightly for him, especially the times when she didn't make it seem like a chore. Although she really only did that when she had to adjust her life more significantly, for example to stop him from getting himself killed. He had to admit, she was probably the only thing standing between him and an early grave sometimes. "Such scheming woman."

"I'm sorry, _you're _accusing _me _of being the one who was scheming? If you'll recall, you set the whole thing up and pretended it was all a coincidence."

"I had the best of intentions."

"So did I."

"And so did Cho I'm sure."

"Is that your way of asking me not to exact punishment?" Not that she'd had any intention of doing that anyways of course.

"Not really. If you didn't smack him down before for calling me in when I was suspended you're certainly not going to do it now for telling me that you like chocolates."

"Sometimes I wonder if I have any control left at all."

He laughed as he stood, "You have _no_ idea. Well, I should let you get back to work."

"Okay," she agreed cheerfully.

He got up to leave, surprised when she called him back a third time, this time much more quietly.

"Jane?"

He turned back.

Lisbon fiddled with her pen. "I just…" she trailed off, trying to tell him with her eyes what she couldn't seem to say for some reason. "I mean…" Where was wrong with her brain? Why couldn't she just spit it out? Thank you Jane for thinking of doing that, for planning an outing to make me smile and tricking me into it so that I allowed myself to enjoy it., for making sure that I didn't have to spend another evening alone trying not to obsess over a crappy case. She could practically feel the blush rising on her cheeks.

Jane smiled softly. She needn't have worried about finding the words, the message was written across her face. "Anytime Theresa."

She nodded, relieved. She should have known he'd understand.

As he wandered back over to his couch he decided maybe he could forgive her for ignoring him briefly in favour of her departmental memo. Wait a minute, departmental memos were usually sent out at the beginning of the month. It was the 26th. He'd bet money there'd been little more in that memo than a shopping list. Sneaky Lisbon, getting her revenge. It seemed she enjoyed messing with him almost as much as he enjoyed messing with her.

-----

The next day a case involving a potential serial killer had landed in their laps. The next couple of weeks had flown by in a blur of road trips, strange hotels, endless hours of research and several late-night brainstorming sessions. Sure there were moments of levity (mainly surrounding Jane's machinations) and the odd hour of relative calm, but they were often eclipsed by the endless rounds of questioning and interrogation, of driving all over the state, of trying not to let Jane get killed. After Jane confronted their prime suspect and very nearly became his fourth victim Lisbon had wanted to literally tie him to a chair and scream at him until she was hoarse. She settled for two minutes of yelling, by the end of which he had the good sense to look suitable chastened, and then storming out of the room, slamming the door.

Over the next couple of days she'd calmed down bit by bit while the team was preparing all their evidence to hand over to the district attorney. She was fairly pleased with the results. They had a solid case. The DA was optimistic about a conviction on all counts. Plus, Minelli had promised the entire team a full three days off starting Friday.

On Friday Lisbon had crashed. On Saturday she dealt with all of her neglected housework, the laundry, the vacuuming, buying groceries. Then in the evening she collapsed and watched mindless television before going to bed early. On Sunday she woke up feeling refreshed. She planned to go hiking in the morning, and maybe watching a movie in the afternoon.

While she was changing after her hike she realized that she hadn't spoken to Jane much over the last few days. It was odd. They'd fallen into a bit of a routine lately. He usually stopped by her office when he got in to check in and they'd chat for a few minutes. A couple of times when the rest of the team had gone out for lunch he'd stayed in and eaten with her in her office while they discussed the case. She'd gotten in the habit of checking up on him once or twice in the afternoon to make sure he wasn't doing anything too outlandish. She realized that she'd gotten used to talking to him. And as nice as having a bit of time to decompress and catch up on her sleep was, three days alone in her apartment had been lonely.

She could call him she supposed, although he might think that was strange since she didn't think she'd ever done it before when they didn't have a case. On the other hand, they had gotten closer, which was only natural given how long they'd been working together. Plus there was a first time for everything. Besides, she should probably check up on him, see how he was doing. Serial killer cases couldn't be easy for him. He'd seemed to be doing fine, but you never knew.

Deciding to give him a call just to check in, Lisbon grabbed her phone before she could change her mind.

Jane was sitting on his front porch when his cell phone rang. He didn't feel like being inside at the moment. He'd had enough of serial killers over the past two weeks. Lisbon wasn't pleased with him after their last case so he'd been laying low. Besides he didn't think she'd appreciate it if he interrupted her much needed weekend off. He grinned when he saw the caller ID. It didn't look like he had been the one to interrupt her weekend.

"So much for a full three days off. Where's the case?" he asked, getting right to the point.

Lisbon paused, "There's no case. I made Minelli promise not to call us in unless the governor himself was murdered. I was just calling to see how you were."

Well this was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Lisbon was calling him to talk? She wasn't mad at him? Excellent. "Aw… Were you worried about me Agent Lisbon?"

"Yes."

Well, the woman certainly didn't beat around the bush. "I'm fine, I promise." And he was, or as fine as he could be.

"Well, good." She paused, "Have you been enjoying your three days off?"

Enjoying? Not really. Not enough distraction on days off. Although he'd been so tired he'd actually managed to sleep for over 8 hours the first night, which was always cause for joy. And it wasn't like he wasn't enjoying his time off, it certainly wasn't terrible. "Sure. Your overprotective side will be pleased to know I actually got caught up on some sleep on Friday. I've just been kicking around ever since. Nothing special. You?"

She grinned, he could hear it over the phone. "Pretty much the same actually. I crashed on Friday, caught up on housework Saturday. This morning I went for a hike, and I was just planning on watching a movie this afternoon."

"What movie?"

"The Philadelphia Story. It's one of my favourites."

He was grinning now as well. Curled up on the couch with a classic movie, he should have known. "Yeah? I've never scene it but I've heard that one's good."

"Oh it is. Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stuart star. I think you'd like it actually. The plot is dependent on one of the main characters manipulating pretty much everyone around him to great success." She'd never really scene the connection before, but now that she had it was pretty funny.

"I'll have to watch it sometime."

"Well, you could come over and watch it with me if you wanted." Wait what? Had she just invited Jane to come watch a movie in her apartment? Was she crazy? Or was this what you wanted the whole time, a little voice inside her asked. Admit it, you were lonely, and worried about him, and you want to make sure he's okay. You want to do something for him like he did for you the day he took you to that chocolate haven. She realized Jane hadn't said anything. "I mean, only if you're not doing anything of course. And it was just an idea, you don't have to feel obliged to come or anything. I was just thinking since you hadn't seen the movie and I'm just about to start it…"

Jane had been stunned into silence when he heard her offer. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. Operation Lisbon was progressing in leaps and bounds if she felt comfortable enough to have him in her apartment. When she started rambling, one of her nervous habits, he realized that he needed to say something.

"I'm not doing anything. I'd love to come. Do you want me to come right now? It'll take me about fifteen minutes to get there. Do you need me to bring anything? Snacks? Drinks?"

She paused, relieved that he'd cut her off. "No, don't worry about bringing anything. I've got everything we'll need. I'll see you in 15 minutes.

"Alright, bye Lisbon."

"Good-bye Jane." What had she just gotten herself into?

-----

Lisbon was panicking. No, not so much panicking, she told herself, as concerned. And there was nothing wrong with being a little, worried here. After all, there were a number of things to consider. First of all, Jane was coming to her home. She had willingly invited him there. She had opened that door now. This set a precedent. She'd never really invited members of her team to her apartment before. Sure, they'd been there a couple of times to drop something off or pick her up, but none of them had ever really _stayed_. She was pretty sure actually that Cho hadn't actually made it through the front door the first few years that they'd worked together. What would this do to her position on not discussing personal lives in the office? She'd basically just invited the office into her personal life. Well, not so much the office maybe, as Jane, but the only way to keep them separate was if they established some ground rules. Namely that he couldn't mention he happened to discover here about her at work. And like he would ever agree to that. Jane loved teasing her at work. She'd basically just given him a whole heck of a lot more ammo. Anything he happened to discover could be used against her, and, well that brought her up to the second problem. _Jane_ was coming to _her_ home. He was going to _analyze her apartment._ Just like he did when they were at a suspect's house. She wondered if he'd wander around the edges of her living room, glancing at pictures, noting anything that was slightly out of place, or slightly too neat, considering the placement of all the objects. She wasn't sure she was ready for that. And lastly, Jane. Was. Coming. To. Her. Home. She'd just up and invited him on the spur of the moment. Since when did she do things on the spur of the moment with Jane? She'd asked him to a movie, like it was no big deal. And now he was coming to her home. Maybe she should just call him back and tell him her apartment was on fire so unfortunately the movie was off.

It was at about this point in her mental panic, no not panic, _process_, that Lisbon's calmer self managed to regain control. She was not calling Jane. That would be ridiculous, and besides if she did she'd only feel stupider than she did now. This was fine. Things had been, different with Jane lately anyways. They were spending a bit more time together, only natural as they got to know each other. They were eating ice cream together now. He'd taken her for a walk on one of his favourite streets, one her rational self managed to point out, that he'd used to walk along with his wife. They seemed to talk to each other more somehow. By any standard they were getting closer. And as to not discussing her personal life with her team, well, the whole team had been slowly getting closer since Jane had started working with them, especially since Van Pelt had arrived. They were gelling together a bit more. It was only natural that they get closer, it didn't mean they were going to start sharing their deepest, darkest secrets every day. Besides, watching the movie might be fun.

Before she could talk herself back into a panic Lisbon decided she needed to find something to do. Her apartment was already clean thanks to her housecleaning frenzy the day before, but what about snacks. She could put some chips in a bowl or something, but that wouldn't take long enough. She needed a distraction. Popcorn. Popcorn was good. She should make popcorn. Lots of popcorn. If she made too much for one person than Jane would just have to come over to help her eat it before it went bad. Thoroughly satisfied with this plan, she went into the kitchen to make the popcorn before she could start obsessing again over the fact that Patrick Jane was coming to her home, and she'd invited him there.

-----

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and so sorry for the delay. It was a bit longer than I thought it would be due to life and also to the fact that I'm trying to plan out the ending so I don't accidentally write myself into a corner or something. I'm thinking there's going to be two more chapters at this point. Also, Jane and Lisbon discuss The Philadelphia Story. Although I don't actually give away too much of the movie's ending, I thought I'd issue a warning. To be fair, it is a romantic comedy so the ending is somewhat predictable. Anyways, without further ado:

Chapter 5

Lisbon was looking over her apartment one last time. Everything was neat, she hadn't left anything personal lying around in plain sight, the movie was in the DVD player, the popcorn was on the coffee table. Really as far as she could tell, there was nothing left for her to do. Alright, so now where was Jane? As if to answer her question, the buzzer sounded.

After checking that it was in fact Jane at the door Lisbon let him up to her apartment, wondering for about the 18th time if this was really a good idea. Oh well, too late for that now she thought when she heard his knock. "Hi. Come on in."

"I brought licorice," he said holding up two bags, "Black and red."

"I told you that you didn't have to bring anything."

"That just felt rude."

"You really can't follow even the simplest of instructions can you?"

"Where's the fun in that? I'm all about quiet rebellion."

"And not so quiet rebellion."

"Sometimes I like to branch out."

"And so you're suggesting what, that we watch the movie backwards as an act of defiance to those who've decreed the correct order of the story?"

"Nah. I'll conform this time, besides watching the scenes backwards will take too much work."

"Well, at least conformity will always have your laziness on its side." She paused, "Movie's in the DVD player, popcorn's made if you want some. Did you want anything to drink?" She paused, wondering what was even in her fridge. "I think I've got some orange juice, and probably some coke, couple of beer, water..."

"Coke sounds good. I'll open the non-conformist liquorice."

She decided to ignore that and went to go fish a couple of cans of coke out from the back of her fridge.

Jane glanced around her apartment in curiosity. It was taking all of his self-control not to get up and walk around. The only thing stopping him was that even to him it felt like too much of an invasion of her privacy, and if he thought that, then what would she think? Of course, he rationalized, her Jane-is-up-to-something radar would definitely ping if he didn't make some kind of comment. And it would be strange if he didn't even _look_ around a little bit from his place on the couch. Pleased with this justification Jane started paying closer attention to the details of his surroundings.

The apartment was warm, not cluttered, but welcoming. Lived in. She'd painted the walls a pale yellow, which was somehow unexpected. He hadn't known what he was expecting, but that wasn't it. Maybe she needed something cheerful around her to deal with the work that she did. Or maybe she just knew that lighter colours on the walls made the rooms look bigger. Or maybe it had been the landlord's choice. Everything was absolutely in place. He smirked, acknowledging that she'd probably gone over her apartment and put anything that wasn't in its proper place back so that he didn't read too much into anything. He eyed her bookshelves, he'd bet money that she organized them alphabetically by the author's last name, and maybe by genre as well. She had a few photos out, but not many. One he assumed was a photo of Lisbon with her brothers, you could tell from the family resemblance. Another he was fairly certain was of her niece and nephew. He was pleasantly surprised to see a photo of the team on one shelf, but what was that over in the corner? He glanced into the kitchen; Lisbon appeared to be busy searching for glasses. He got up quietly and wandered over to the photo tucked over by the overstuffed armchair where he assumed she read her romance novels, and anything else she considered foolish or self-indulgent. He grinned, there was even an afghan folded neatly over the back. His grin faded as he picked up the photo.

The photo appeared to be about 25 years old. Lisbon looked like she was about 8. Even though he rarely saw it, there was no mistaking that grin. She was smiling and playing outside, with a woman he knew immediately was her mother. She was beautiful, taller than Lisbon herself with the same dark hair, but with dark eyes. Lisbon must have inherited the green from her father, the only family member he couldn't help noticing who wasn't in a picture anywhere. He turned back to Lisbon's mother. Her features were softer than her daughter's. The creases around her eyes and mouth indicated that she'd laughed often, a trait it looked like her daughter had lost. And you didn't need to be a mentalist to know that she'd adored her young daughter. Jane smiled absently, mothers and daughters. He could picture them, the only two females in a house full of males. He doubted that numbers would have made much difference; this pair had obviously ruled the roost. And now Lisbon kept the photo in the corner where she relaxed from the world.

Jane had been so distracted by the photo that he'd failed to notice when Lisbon herself had returned. "Alright, here's your drink. Are you..." She trailed off when she saw him with the photo.

Jane looked up guiltily with a start. It would seem he'd been caught doing the one thing he'd been trying not to, dig too deeply into her past. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now but tell the truth and hope she decided not to throw him out. "I was looking at the photo of the team when I saw this back here. My curiosity got the better of me..." he trailed off with what he hoped was an apologetic grin. "She was beautiful."

"Yes she was." She didn't know what to say, how to react. She'd considered moving the photo when she'd been doing an inventory of her apartment for Jane-sensitive items. But she hadn't wanted to; that had somehow seemed wrong. Besides, what were the chances he'd even say anything? She'd had people over to apartment before although not that often. Of course those that she did have over were either friends who knew her well enough not to ask, or people who didn't know her well enough to ask in the first place. "Not everything's hereditary."

He tucked that away for later. The present situation called for too much delicacy. He didn't like that she was calm. She should have come storming over here by now, demanding to know what the hell he was doing, or she should have done nothing, ignored the whole thing and gone to start the movie. Anything other than standing there in the centre of the room looking at him like she had no idea what to do with herself or him. He didn't like unsure Lisbon. She looked exposed, like she wanted nothing better than to order him out, anything other than talk to him. Suddenly he realized another flaw in Operation Lisbon. He'd wanted Lisbon to talk to him about things that mattered, but when it came right down to it he was just as bad. "It's nice that you keep the photo out."

She shrugged, still unsure how to react, "I like that photo."

He took a breath, bracing himself against the consequences, "I took most of the photos down."

She looked confused, "What?"

"Of my wife and daughter. I couldn't, I mean, it was too much most of the time. My wife loved taking pictures, but... I had to take the photos down." Baby steps, he reminded himself, trust took baby steps, and you're not going to get it if you don't show any yourself. Even if you trust her implicitly she doesn't necessarily know that. At least you don't have to worry about her pitying you. Sympathy maybe, but not pity.

Sure enough her eyes softened, probably more than he deserved. She looked like she wanted to approach him, even going so far as to put the drinks down on the coffee table. But in the end she stayed where she was. "Sometimes you don't want your memories disturbed. It's easier not to remember. I almost moved that photo before you came."

"I'm glad you didn't." He laughed self-deprecatingly, "And trust me, it's probably healthier not to."

"Maybe so but..." she sighed, "Jane, I've..."

He interrupted, "Don't worry Lisbon. None of this will make it back to the office." Then he grinned in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Anything that happens in Lisbon's apartment stays in Lisbon's apartment."

To his relief she smiled slightly as well, "Come on, let's start the movie before the popcorn gets stale."

-----

Lisbon was confused. She'd just walked into her living room and found Jane looking at the one photo she'd been hoping he would leave alone. Of course she should have known better. He hadn't made that big a deal out of it, which she guessed was unsurprising given his recent behaviour. But then he'd really shocked her by mentioning his wife and daughter. And this time it hadn't been an off the cuff reference either, made because he'd forgotten momentarily the need to hide. No, this had been deliberate, calculated. Jane had never mentioned his family to her before unless she'd initiated the conversation. He was opening up, but why? Why now? And why to her? They worked closely sure, and she'd guessed he didn't have a lot of friends outside of the team, but that was personal. Really personal. Just what exactly was going on with the irritating man on her couch?

And then there was "what happens in Lisbon's apartment stays in Lisbon's apartment." Well, if he was revealing parts of himself as well, things that he would prefer not to be widely known... Then they were dependent on each other not to reveal their secrets. They were almost at a détente, a mutual arrangement. She and Jane were developing an arrangement... interesting...

-----

It was about twenty minutes into the movie before Lisbon resumed their conversation, "I love her voice."

"Hmm?" Jane asked. He'd wondered if Lisbon was going to turn out to be one of those people who couldn't stand to talk in movies and they were going to spend the next two hours in silence.

"Katherine Hepburn's. I love her voice, especially when she's talking to Cary Grant. I love it when she calls him Dexter."

He grinned. "You can really tell from almost the first moment they're meant to be together. George is clearly an idiot not to be jealous."

"George is clearly an idiot anyways."

He laughed, "Yeah, he is a bit of a pompous and self-important isn't he?"

She grinned, "Oh just you wait."

His lips quirked, "I'm not sure I actually need to."

She feigned annoyance, "Are you calling my movie predictable?"

"It's a romantic comedy Lisbon, of course it's predictable. Any fool can see that Katherine Hepburn ends up with Cary Grant, even though Jimmy Stewart might try and throw a wrench in the proceedings, and who can blame him. It's quite well done of course, but predictable none the less."

"Shut up Jane. I love this movie."

He was amused at her rapid defence of one of her favourite stories, "Well it's obviously quite a good movie. The dialogue is good, and I like that it's quick. The acting is excellent and there are some really nice details in it. That's the mark of a good movie in my opinion, the attention to the small details."

"And the supporting cast. I think a lot of movies are made or broken based on the supporting cast."

He nodded, "The character actors. Part of the reason you love old movies I'm sure. The character actors were so good."

"In British movies too," she remarked absently.

"Ah, our friends across the pond. An odd attitude for someone who's living in California. I'd have thought you'd be more supportive of the local talent."

"I never said I didn't like American movies. This is an American movie. I just like British movies too."

"Nice cover."

"Shut up and watch the movie Jane."

-----

"Jimmy Stewart is very tall."

"And really very graceful. I always notice whenever I watch this part."

"Hmmm. Is this your way of saying you want to go dancing on the edge of a pond?"

"Oh be quiet Jane."

-----

"Wow, you're right, he _is _a bigger idiot than I was expecting."

"Told you."

"How on earth did he even fool her for as long as he did. Clearly everyone else hates him."

"She says it at the start of the movie; he was the opposite of her first husband."

"Sometimes even I don't understand women."

"The great Patrick Jane admitting that he doesn't always understand human nature? I'm shocked. I'll have to mark this date down on my calendar for posterity."

"Hush Lisbon."

-----

Lisbon grinned and stretched as the final credits of the movie started to roll. She loved that movie. "So?" she asked her companion, currently still slouched across the other half of her couch.

He looked at her and grinned, "An excellent movie Lisbon. Thank you for inviting me to watch it with you."

Yes, she had done that hadn't she? And there hadn't been any disasters really. Other than the odd moment of discomfort the rest of the afternoon had been nice. Clearly her panicking had been a little bit crazy. She shrugged off his thanks self-consciously. "Oh, no problem. When you said you hadn't seen it I just figured..." She trailed off, looking at her watch. "Huh, it's not only four-thirty. I would have thought it'd be later than that."

"Do you have plans?" Jane asked her.

"Nah. I figured maybe I could watch some TV, maybe read for a bit," she paused warily. "Why?"

Jane's eyes lit up, "Or... I heard there's some sort of carnival at the park tonight. Fancy a little ice-cream Agent Lisbon?"

She had been planning on having a quiet night, but ice cream did sound good. On the other hand, she couldn't start eating ice cream and chocolate all the time unless she wanted to start running an extra hour each week... "I don't know Jane, I thought we agreed on once a month, and it has been a long week."

Ah, she was going to be difficult. No matter, he'd had plenty of practice convincing her to do things, and this was by no means his most outlandish scheme. Besides, she sounded like she was trying to convince herself that she wanted to stay home. "I thought once a week was sort of a minimum guideline, not something that would prevent us from having more ice cream. What if you had a bad date and wanted to curl up on your couch with a carton of cookies and cream?"

She grinned, "Then why on earth would I be at the park with you instead?"

"Clearly I convinced you that fresh air and entertaining company was better than wallowing on your couch by yourself."

"Are you offering to be my court jester?"

"Are you agreeing to come to the park?"

She looked at his eager eyes. Sure she could stay at home and be sensible like she always did, or she could behave like a normal person on a spring evening on the weekend and go out with her friend. Well, okay, technically she and Jane were colleagues, but, it still counted. Besides, this wasn't work related, so it was more friendly than anything else. There was certainly nothing in their _professional_ relationship that included going to the park. As long as they kept things separate... They were park buddies. Yes, that was it, like colleagues who played pick-up basketball or whatever. But Jane probably didn't play basketball, so they went to the park. It made perfect sense. "Fine, but I expect you to juggle something before the evening's over."

He grinned, "As milady wishes." Then, with an exaggerated bow, "After you."

Lisbon chuckled and picked up the empty popcorn bowl, "Just as soon as I clean up. Grab those glasses will you?" she called over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen.

Jane just shook his head. He should have known. "Yes _boss_."

"Oh, and Jane," she said, poking her head back into the family room.

"Yeah?"

"I'm driving."

-----

It was about an hour later by the time they found a parking lot and got to the park. Jane hadn't stopped grinning from the moment they first heard the unmistakable sound of carnival music. "I wonder if they'll have a Ferris wheel, or cotton candy, and I hope they have a bunch of those carnival games."

Lisbon smiled at him indulgently. Sometimes he was really just a five-year old in an adult's body. "Now Jane, stay close. I don't want you getting lost in the crowd. And if you're a good boy I'll buy you an ice-cream cone later."

He put on his best teasing tone, "Awww. Agent Lisbon, are you worried about losing me? I had no idea you were so fond of my company."

Lisbon whacked him in the stomach, grinning when he swore under his breath.

"That hurt woman! So violent…" then he noticed something on the other side of the park and his face lit up, "Hey, is that face-painting?"

Lisbon barely had time to run after him before he disappeared into the crowd. What had she gotten herself into?

-----

TBC

Also, I realized after having written the first half of this chapter that since Jane hadn't changed really anything in his house, all of the pictures might still be up. Let's just pretend for the purposes of this story that that's not the case OK?


	6. Chapter 6

Alright guys, second last chapter. I can't believe it, and I must admit I'm a little sad because this story was such fun to write. Anyways, I'm hoping to get the end up before the weekend, because it's half written already. Again, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to review. I really appreciate it, especially since this will be my first completed multi-chapter fic, so I'm glad that everyone is enjoying it so much. As always, I own nothing.

Chapter 6

By the time Lisbon caught up to Jane he had already spoken to the people who were painting faces, as well as several of the children getting their faces painted. At the moment he was engaged in earnest conversation with a young girl about what they should get painted on their faces. "I'm going to get a rainbow," the girl told him very seriously. "They're my favourite." She paused to consider for a moment, "You could get a rainbow too if you wanted. I don't mind."

Jane seemed to consider this before replying, "I don't know, it doesn't seem very manly though. I was thinking more along the lines of a dragon." He grinned, "But maybe my friend Theresa would like a rainbow."

Lisbon started, and realized she was trapped. Oh the hell with it, "_But Patrick_, I wanted to get a sun, not a rainbow." She grinned at his look of surprise before winking at the young girl. "Besides, that will make your rainbow all the more special won't it?"

The girl looked between the two adults for a moment, before giggling. "I think your sun will be very pretty," she told Lisbon politely, before scampering off to get her precious rainbow.

"A sun?" Jane asked her as he stood.

She shrugged, "It's a carnival. We're in a park. Now go get on that chair, I want to see that dragon."

Oh yeah, like he was going to fall for that. He'd get the dragon then she'd come up with some excuse not to get her face painted. Ha! Did she think he was born yesterday? "Ladies first," he said gesturing to the chair.

To his utter amazement Lisbon just shrugged, and walked over to the empty chair next to the elderly woman who'd volunteered to paint faces. Jane's wonder only grew as the normally terse agent greeted the volunteer with a smile. They exchanged a few sentences of conversation that he was too far away to catch with all the noise of the carnival, but he did notice both of them gesturing to him subtly. Soon both women were grinning. The face-painter shook her head in his general direction before getting started on Lisbon's sun.

When she walked back towards him Jane couldn't help noticing that she had a sun and a cloud on her right cheek, but he decided not to comment. He was too busy wondering if he should be concerned about some sort of body-snatching scenario. Lisbon smirked. It wasn't often that she was able to surprise Patrick Jane. The expression of utter bewilderment on his face while she'd been getting her face painted alone would have made walking around with a sun on her cheek worth it. As it was she kind of liked it. Besides, Mabel was quite a nice woman, and seemed to be well used to dealing with men like Jane. "Alright, your turn Jane. Mabel promised me that she'd give you her best dragon."

She was grinning at him, clearly pleased with herself. And there was something else in her eyes... she was _taunting_ him! That was a challenge if he'd ever seen one! She didn't think he'd get his face painted after all. Well, he'd show her. "Excellent. Thank you Agent Lisbon. Lovely sun by the way." Boldly he walked over to the elderly woman, and shot her his most charming smile. "Mabel I presume. Patrick Jane. My friend tells me that you paint the best dragon this side of the Pacific."

Mabel merely smiled placidly, and grasped his chin in a surprisingly strong grip. Jane had to fight back a wince. "Nice to meet you Patrick. But don't try to fool me with your charm young man. I taught high school for over thirty years and I've had plenty of practice dealing with your type. Now stop fidgeting. I'll smudge your dragon and you wouldn't want that would you?"

"No ma'am." He answered quickly. He could see that he didn't want to be on this woman's bad side. He didn't understand, she'd been so friendly with Lisbon. What on earth had he done?

"Now you be sure and treat that woman over there well. She's a nice girl."

Well this he would not stand for. "I am treating her well. I'm her friend. All I did was suggest we go to a carnival in the park on a Sunday afternoon. Why would you assume I have some sort of sinister motive?"

"Because my dear, you are an imp."

Jane was so torn between laughter and shock that he didn't quite know what to reply. Luckily Mabel had no problem continuing the conversation.

"And you always have to keep your eye on an imp, and your lady friend knows it." Then her voice softened, "But I believe you. I don't think you're out to hurt her, so I'll let you off with a warning, _this time_. Now there's your dragon. What do you think?"

Jane loosened his jaw quickly before looking in the mirror. His "dragon" resembled more than anything else, a large green dog. A large green dog, with what looked like its tongue hanging out, although he supposed that might have been fire. He didn't want to impugn Mabel's artistic skills but... he turned to her while formulating some sort of polite response in his head. Mabel, for her part appeared to be trying not to laugh. Jane's eyes narrowed, as he whipped his head around to stare at Lisbon, who was also trying to contain her giggles. When she met his eyes and got a look at his "dragon" straight on she lost the battle.

"Oh, it's perfect Mae!" she told the elderly woman. "It's the spitting image of Clarence! Well," she amended, "except for being green." In response to Jane's look of confusion, she clarified, "Clarence is Mabel's dog. She rescued him a couple of years ago from the shelter where I volunteer sometimes. We see each other every so often when she brings Clarence in."

"My pleasure Theresa." Then she patted, Jane on the shoulder. "I think it suits you dear."

Jane contemplated the two conspirators, trying to decide whether or not he should be annoyed. Glancing one last time between the two smiling women he gave up the ghost. Smiling at Mabel, he said, "Thank you Mabel. At least my Clarence will be unique. You must promise me not to paint anyone else's cheek with this particular design."

"Oh, I'm certain I can promise you that Patrick."

He thought he heard her mutter, "Not that anyone else would want one," under her breath, but he decided to ignore that. "Excellent." He said with a smile. Shooting her one last grin he walked over towards Lisbon, who was still trying to control her giggles.

"Bye Mae! And thanks again!" she called to the older woman, who merely waved her hand at her friend before turning to her next customer. Looking one more time at Jane's ferocious dragon, Lisbon couldn't help asking, "So Jane, manly enough for you?"

"You know what they say Lisbon, a dog _is_ man's best friend."

-----

Much to Lisbon's amusement Jane insisted on keeping Clarence on his cheek for the remainder of the evening. He seemed quite proud of his green dog. She had to admit that despite the occasional odd look, she was enjoying her cloud. Besides, she was pretty sure that most people just assumed that she was with a small child who had convinced her to get her face painted.

In a way she was with a small child. After the face-painting Jane had insisted on playing carnival games, all of which he was irritatingly good at. After they'd won about four stuffed animals Lisbon told him that they had to stop because she wasn't carting any more around the park. Jane considered their predicament before gallantly offering to place all of their prizes in the car. After threatening him with severe bodily harm if he drove off without her, she'd handed over her keys and settled down to wait for him at a picnic table by the ice-cream stand. She looked out over the park at the setting sun. It really had been a lovely afternoon...

"Well hello gorgeous. What's a lovely lady like you doing here all by herself?"

Oh for crying out loud.

Plastering what she hoped was a polite smile on her face, she turned to face the man casually leaning up against her picnic table. Who wore a baseball hat backwards anymore? And was that honestly a large metal chain hanging from his pocket? "Actually, I'm waiting for my friend. He'll be here any minute."

"Well, why don't I keep you company until he gets here? Name's Mick."

"Hi." She'd discovered early on that Cho's interrogation style, along with eliciting confessions, was usually very effective at getting rid of all sorts of unwanted attention.

"So..." he said, waiting for her to fill the pause in the conversation, presumably with her name. When she didn't her companion ploughed on undisturbed, "What do you do for a living? Let me guess, model? Actress?"

Oh for Pete's sake, did that actually work on people? "I work for the California Bureau of Investigation."

Instead of being intimidated, her would-be-Romeo leaned in, "Really. So how often do you have to use your handcuffs?"

While she was deciding whether or not to get up and walk away, or to smack him and get up and walk away Lisbon was surprised by an arm dropping around her shoulders. "Hi sweetie! Sorry I took so long, but the car turned out to be farther then I remembered."

Glancing up into Jane's laughing eyes, she grinned, "Oh that's okay pookie. I haven't been waiting long." Standing up quickly, she turned to her surprised-looking companion. "Well, we'll just be going now. Come on snuggle-muffin, let's go get some ice cream."

Jane kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked away, "Snuggle-muffin?"

Lisbon shrugged, "First thing that came to mind. Thanks by the way."

"No problem. Actually, I almost didn't go rescue you. After all, you may have been receptive to the gentleman's advances."

"Cut the crap Jane. You of all people would have been able to tell that I was uncomfortable."

He laughed, "I figured I was just in the nick of time to prevent you from punching that smug smile off of his face."

"I was considering it, but it probably would have been more trouble than it was worth."

"Then I'm glad I stepped in when I did. Actually, I considered playing it really jealous and demanding my rival get away from you immediately."

"That might have resulted in him punching _you_ in the face, and I've got say Jane, he was built like a line-backer. I don't think you could have taken him."

"Oh undoubtedly not. But I'm sure _you_ could have if need be."

"True, but then I still end up punching him in the face, and I thought that was what we were trying to avoid."

"Spoilsport." Then he brightened, "I know! We should have a system so that I don't end up interrupting something you don't want me to. What about a hand signal?"

"_Or_, you could just do what you did today, and if I look uncomfortable step in. I'd be happy to repay the favour if you like. Besides, if I don't want you to interfere I'm sure I can figure out some way to subtly let you know."

He snorted, "Like what? An elbow to the gut?"

She shrugged, "I use the methods that work." Then she grinned, "Stop pouting Cupcake. Let's go get that ice-cream I promised you."

-----

They'd wandered aimlessly throughout the park eating their ice-cream. Jane was regaling her with stories of carnivals past, or the secrets behind some of the games. Lisbon was occasionally interjecting with the odd story of her own while trying not to look as amused as she really was. They were wandering by the games area, passing water balloons, a ball pit, a soccer field and a baseball diamond when Lisbon excused herself to go wash her hands.

Jane smiled and offered to wait where he was. He scanned the crowds around him. He loved carnivals, the pageantry and the people. Sure he hadn't actually been raised on the carnival circuit, but his parents had loved them, and they'd gone several times a year when he was kid. He hadn't been going as often lately, and he hadn't realized how much he missed it. Of course, now that she'd lightened up a bit in his presence Lisbon was an excellent carnival companion. He'd have never guessed she'd be willing to get her face painted. Speaking of Lisbon, where had she gone? He thought she'd just gone to get the ice cream off of her hands. When he turned to locate her he was greeted by a water balloon in the face.

As he wiped the water out of his eyes he heard her laughter. "You weren't supposed to turn around Jane. I meant to hit you in the back of the head. Your hair looks lovely by the way." That was about all she got out before succumbing to another fit of giggles.

Once he got over the shock of Theresa Lisbon holding her sides, laughing herself silly with an extra water balloon in her hand, his eyes narrowed. She would pay for that. He moved slowly towards the water balloons at the other end of the field, but she'd noticed him. She launched her second water balloon at him, this time hitting him in the back, (Damn that woman had good aim!) before taking off in the other direction. Oh this was war.

Scooping up a couple of the water balloons, and ignoring the indulgent looks of the adults around him and the laughter of the children, he set off after her. He tore across the park, but he'd underestimated his opponent, forgotten that she was trained in combat situations, as well as, let's face it, in much better shape than he was.

She could easily outstrip him, and seemed to delight in standing just out of range. When he did manage to get close enough to her she managed to dodge his shots easily. He thought he might have splashed her right foot at one point, but he couldn't be sure. She'd led him back around to where volunteers were re-filling water balloons to get more ammo, laughing good-naturedly when one of them congratulated her on her tactical skill.

Lisbon was grinning. Oh this was fun. Here was one thing she was unequivocally better than Jane at. It was mainly because she wasn't letting him get close enough for any of his shenanigans, but that didn't matter. Besides she had to admit, he was getting better.

After about ten minutes of being pelted with water balloons, including a third one in the head Jane was forced to admit defeat. "Truce!" he cried. "I call truce. You are the uncontested champion of water balloons" he called to her. He was soaking wet, whereas she was merely a little damp. He'd managed to hit her a few times, but he had a sneaky suspicion she might have let him.

Lisbon grinned, before jogging over. Extending a hand to her opponent she said, "I accept your offer of peace."

"Excellent," said Jane, right before he dumped his last water balloon on her head.

She merely blinked at him, and wrung out her hair. "That better not have wrecked my cloud Jane. Although I see that Clarence is still going strong so probably not. Now that that's out of your system shall we go? It's getting late. I'll buy you a towel from that booth over there so you don't get water all over the seats of my car."

"You knew I had that last balloon." It wasn't a question.

"Of course." She grinned. "Jane, I knew when I started this that I'd never get out of a water balloon fight with you without getting doused at least once. It was a risk I was willing to take. Now come on, let's get you dried off before you catch cold."

He grinned as he jogged after her. He'd been right; while Agent Lisbon was pretty much by the book, Theresa was tremendous fun.

-----

When Jane wandered into the office slightly late the next morning, Lisbon had to admit to herself that she'd been semi-dreading his arrival. Sure he'd said that he wouldn't mention anything that had happened in her apartment at work, but they'd been at the _park_ for the better part of the evening, and that was exactly the sort of loophole Jane loved to exploit. He wouldn't say anything would he? Would her team be regaled with stories about how out of the office their boss had a mean arm in a water balloon fight? How he'd rescued her when she'd been hit on by one of the locals? Sure she hadn't done anything particularly shocking, and her team probably wouldn't care, but this was where she worked. She'd worked hard to get where she was. She led her own team, people respected her. And she didn't want her outings with her already unorthodox consultant to be one of many subjects of gossip for the security guards and the other agents. Would it be too suspicious if she shoved Jane into her office and threatened to take away his couch to be assured of his silence?

"Morning." Jane greeted the assembled agents. Lisbon sent him a small smile from her place by the filing cabinet, before she went back to searching for the file she was looking for. Van Pelt and Cho both returned the greeting before going back to what they were doing. Rigsby on the other hand, was looking for a distraction from the extraordinarily dull safety report he was reading.

"Morning Jane. Have a good weekend?" he asked.

"Yes, very relaxing. You?"

"Yeah sure. You do anything special?" Lisbon's head jerked up, and she eyed Jane warily.

"Not really, cleaned up around the house, watched a movie, went to the park for a while. You?" Jane nearly laughed at the expression on his boss's face. First she'd been worried, then shocked, then clearly relieved. What did she think he was going to do, describe in great detail the decorations in her apartment or her excellent aim with a water balloon? Then he sighed mentally. He'd thought he'd been making progress on the whole trust issue. Unfortunately with Theresa it seemed to be two steps forward one step back. He roused himself from his thoughts when he realized that Rigsby was answering his question.

"Oh, I didn't do much. Went out with some friends, caught up on some sleep, watched the game on Sunday."

Jane was pleased when the football reference drew Van Pelt into the conversation. While the two younger agents discussed the strengths and weakness of some offensive line or other, he meandered over to his boss. "Why so worried Agent Lisbon?"

She blushed, of course he'd caught that. "No reason." She'd been pleasantly surprised by his answer. Sure it was all _true_; he'd just neglected to mention her involvement. She didn't know why she was so surprised, he had been different lately. Sure he'd been a pain in the ass in the office as usual, but out of the office he'd been... nicer.

"You didn't think I'd be telling stories from the weekend now did you? After I promised you that everything that happened in your apartment stayed in your apartment?"

"Well, we did spend a good part of the day at the park."

He grinned, Ah. So, she'd been afraid he'd take advantage of semantics. Fair enough. "Have you never heard of the spirit of the law?" he asked cheekily. Then his voice turned more serious, "I'm not out to embarrass you Agent Lisbon."

She smiled back, "So it would seem. Get to work Jane." Then after considering her statement for a moment she amended it, "Or at the very least go lie down on your couch and keep out of trouble, and let me get back to work."

"As you wish."

Lisbon grinned and shook her head as she went back to sorting through the filing cabinet. As such, she was too distracted to notice when Cho nodded to the consultant on his way to the couch, or to notice the nod Jane sent back in return.

-----

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

So this is the final chapter. I admit I'm a bit sad. Again, thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed, many of you multiple times. I always love to hear that people are reading. I hope everyone is pleased with the ending, bearing in mind that I always said this was going to be a friendship fic ;)

Chapter 7

Lisbon absently shuffled some papers on her desk. It had been a busy couple of weeks. Two cases had fallen in their laps one right after the other, but today she was expecting a quiet afternoon. She was just finishing up some of the paperwork now. Things had gone fairly smoothly. Well, as smoothly as possible she guessed when your week involved multiple homicides and dealing with Jane. Actually, he'd managed to only mortally offend three people this week, which might be some sort of new record. Besides, she admitted to herself, at least _one_ of them had definitely deserved it.

Huh, Jane. Her relationship to the provoking man had been changing over the last few weeks, ever since they'd first gone for ice-cream. They'd been spending more time together, and she had to admit she liked it. It wasn't ever a big deal of course. Usually it was just coffee in the break room, or sometimes he'd show up at her apartment and they'd watch TV or a movie, maybe on a rare occasion play cards. But it was always casual, natural, and he didn't seem to require anything of her. It hadn't even seemed to affect their working relationship; well, other than possibly increasing the frequency of mutual mockery. But there was no harm in that. They were buddies; it was nice.

She wandered over to the storage room to grab a file she needed for her meeting with Minnelli later. While she was searching, a couple of junior agents from another team passed by and she had the extreme misfortune of hearing part of their conversation.

"Dude, I'm telling you, they're sleeping together!"

"What? You're crazy! No way Agent Lisbon is involved with a member of her own team."

Oh God. What? _How?_ Crap. She should really storm out there and give the pair a piece of her mind, but for some reason she couldn't seem to make her feet move.

"Oh yeah? Then why are they always spending so much time together? Going out for meals, or taking breaks together? Besides, Tim said he sees them bringing each other coffee all the time."

"You're a moron. She brings her entire team coffee every so often, not just him. And everyone knows the serious crimes squad is close. Anyways, if I was going to suspect a relationship within _that_ team then Lisbon and Jane would hardly head the list."

"Okay, then why has she been amused rather than annoyed by his crap more often than not lately? And why is he always hanging around her office?"

"So they're friends! Lots of cops are in case you haven't noticed. What do you care anyways?"

"I don't. Well not really, but come on, can't you see he's just using her?"

"What?"

"Oh open your eyes! Even you must have heard the rumours about why he's here! He just wants to kill the guy who murdered his family, and he's using Lisbon to get what he wants!"

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? If he gets close to her then she's less likely to stop him from killing the psycho. Who knows, he might even convince her to look the other way. She's getting soft where he's concerned and she doesn't even know it."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I really do. Come on, help me with these boxes. We've got to get them to city hall."

Lisbon walked out of the storage room towards her office in a daze, carrying the sought after file with her. She hated being the subject of gossip, always had. Although in this case she really didn't see how she'd even done anything to warrant it. And as for the idea that Jane was merely using her, well that was ridiculous. Wasn't it?

She shook herself, of course it was! No way had Jane gone to the trouble of taking her to a carnival, or watching movies with her, or showing her the best chocolate store in the city just to get on her good side! She knew he was dark sometimes, and their ideas of justice certainly didn't line up, but he wasn't cruel. She certainly didn't think he'd ever intentionally throw her under a bus in the pursuit of one of his crazy plans.

_But_, her more suspicious side pointed out, he can be careless. And he doesn't always think his plans through all the way. Besides, you thought he was acting strangely a few weeks ago, right before this whole thing started. Can you really be sure this isn't somehow part of one of his crazy schemes? You know that some of them are pretty convoluted sometimes. Maybe this one's just long term...

But that didn't make sense! After all, he'd told her things, trusted her, and she... she'd... He'd told her things about his wife and daughter, willingly, unasked. Whatever else she thought of him, no way would Jane ever intentionally use the memory of his own family for personal gain. And as for the idea that they were sleeping together, the man was nowhere near over his wife and the most physical contact they'd ever shared was when he'd draped an arm over her shoulders. Those two gossiping agents didn't know what they were talking about, and the one had been more than a little malicious. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't want the stupid rumours to go any further she would have spoken to his supervisor. As it was, she'd just have to keep an eye out.

Lisbon snapped open the file and started reviewing its contents before her afternoon meeting. The whole thing was ridiculous, and she vowed not to think about it anymore.

-----

"Well, all things considered it's been a good couple of weeks," her boss commented.

"Except for the three dead bodies of course sir."

Her boss sent her a withering look, "Yes Lisbon, of course, except for the dead bodies." He shook his head. "You know what I meant."

She grinned. "Yes sir."

"Besides, even Jane has been keeping out of trouble. I think I've only gotten two complaints this week. That's got to be a new record with two cases on the go." Throwing his senior agent a grin, he asked, "Whatever did you do to get him under control Lisbon."

"I have no idea," she remarked absently. But she felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water over her. Jane _was_ being more cooperative, and he _did _seem to be making some sort of concerted effort not to make her life as miserable as possible. Sure, he still pulled a bunch of his crap, but somehow she'd been less affected, or maybe she'd just gotten used to it. But if even Minnelli had noticed it no _wonder_ people were gossiping. She hadn't thought it was possible, but maybe Jane was up to something. And that almost never spelled good news for her.

"Well whatever it is, keep it up."

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, sure thing boss." She needed to be more careful when Jane was around, at least until she found out what was going on.

"Are you alright Lisbon?" her boss asked concerned.

She shook her thoughts away, "Yeah boss. Of course. Sorry, just got distracted there for a minute." She sent him a small smile to convince him; she wasn't sure it had worked, but at least he didn't call her on the lie.

"Alright," Minnelli said, not believing her for a moment. Something was up alright and probably something to do with Jane. Oh well, he was sure Lisbon could handle that lunatic even though pretty much everyone else in the department refused to have anything to do with him. "Well, I'll probably be talking to you soon enough. Your team did good this week Agent Lisbon."

She smiled, "Thanks boss." She needed time to think about what was going on with Jane, time away from his probing eyes.

Despite his confidence in her abilities, Minnelli couldn't help noticing as Lisbon walked out of his office, that she somehow looked more tired than she had when she'd walked in.

-----

Lisbon was so lost in thought on the way back to her office that she almost ran right into Rigsby. "Whoa, boss. You alright?" he asked, as he grabbed her arm in order to prevent a collision.

"Yeah. Sorry Rigsby. I got distracted. You know how it is."

"Sure thing boss. Look on the bright side, at least we've just finished up a couple of cases, we're not starting them."

"That's true."

"Besides, even Jane's been behaving lately. I think it's been over a month since the last time he was called up for disciplinary action," Rigsby added in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Lisbon just gave him the barest of smiles before practically running back to her office. Now Rigsby wasn't always the most discerning of individuals, especially when it came to women, but it didn't take a moron to realize that something was bothering his boss. He just hoped it didn't have anything to do with him.

Oh well, he shrugged. One of the good things about having Jane on the team was that the crazy consultant usually ended up bearing the brunt of Lisbon's wrath when things went wrong.

-----

Lisbon was avoiding him, and Jane had no idea why. He'd thought things had been going well; so much so that he'd almost been ready to declare Operation Lisbon a success. But these last few days whenever he'd called her or brought her coffee she'd been busy, or on her way somewhere, or hadn't picked up her phone or just plain had no time to talk to him. She'd been fairly ingenious in her excuses; it wasn't like she'd claimed she needed to wash her hair or anything, but she still wasn't talking to him. Not about anything that didn't directly relate to a case at least, and somehow he couldn't provoke anything out of her. What on earth had happened? He missed the twenty minutes he spent each afternoon irritating her or making her laugh. He missed having the option of showing up at her apartment for a movie. This new policy of minimal contact was unacceptable.

Jane was lost in his thoughts as he wandered into the bullpen. What had he done to make her so mad at him? He couldn't remember doing anything particularly offensive lately. Well, not by his standards at least. He'd figured that she'd be mad when she found out that he'd purposefully poured red wine on all of their prime suspect's white shirts, especially since said suspect had been a congressman. But he'd had his reasons. Besides, that wasn't when she'd started ignoring him; a small part of her had even thought it was funny.

He was so distracted that he didn't notice that Cho'd somehow cornered him in the break room until the agent had him almost backed up against a wall. "Alright man, what'd you do?"

"What?" he asked, despite having a pretty good idea what the other man was talking about.

"To the boss. What'd you do? I warned you what would happen if you hurt her. Only thing is, I'm not sure why she's been acting weird and avoiding you for the past couple of days, so I'm giving you sixty seconds to explain yourself."

"How very magnanimous of you," Jane muttered under his breath.

"Fifty-five."

"I have no idea okay? I have no idea what I did! Everything was fine! Occasionally we'd go out for lunch, as I'm sure you've noticed, but usually one or more of you guys came too so it was more of a team thing anyways. Sometimes I'd call her on lazy afternoons, or we'd watch movies or go walking in the park, but most of the time we'd just have coffee or tea together in the afternoon. It was all just little things. We were just being friendly. My plan was _working._ And then a few days ago she got all skittish and strange after she came back to the office from her meeting with Minnelli. I can't think that anything in that meeting would have scared her off since we solved our last case and I didn't do anything _too _insane. But I honestly have no idea what's going on."

Cho considered the other man for a moment. He seemed to be telling the truth. It was always tough to tell with Jane, but Cho was inclined to believe him. Of the two of them, _Lisbon_ had been the one looking a bit odd for the past couple of days, while Jane had clearly been confused by her behaviour. "Yeah, I believe you man. But you know, had to make sure."

"Of course. Any idea what's going on?" If anyone knew what was going on in Lisbon's head, it was her second in command.

"I wish I could help you. But even if I thought she'd talk to me, I'm not sure it's a good idea. If she thinks this is all some sort of plan or worse, some kind of trap, then my asking her about it will just make her defensive. Plus she's my boss and she might just decide to kick the crap out of me."

Jane acknowledged that with a nod and a sigh. "Thanks anyways Cho."

The other man continued as if he hadn't spoken, "_I _can't talk to her, but I think _you _should. Find out what's going on, away from this place. You've certainly had enough practice getting people to talk to you." At Jane's questioning look the other man just shrugged, "She was happy. Looser, and you were too. You guys make good friends. If she matters you should figure out what's wrong. It might just be some stupid misunderstanding that talking can fix. Only thing is, she doesn't like to talk about personal crap, so you'll have to force the conversation."

Unexpectedly Jane grinned, "You're right Cho. Thanks. I'll talk to her about it tonight. I'm sure things will be fine."

-----

He walked up to Lisbon's door looking more confident than he felt. He had no plan, nothing to open with really. Well, that's not true, he had the fact that she'd probably be so surprised to see him that he might be able to weasel his way in the door before she could shut it in his face. At least he'd arrived at her building just as someone else was leaving, so he hadn't needed to get buzzed up.

Well, here goes nothing, he thought to himself as he knocked on her door.

-----

Lisbon was sitting on her couch channel-surfing, and bored out of her mind. She needed to resolve the Jane situation soon, if only so that she'd have someone to call when she felt like mocking whatever was on television. Also, because there was only so much longer that he'd let her get away with ignoring him. They really needed to talk. But given the possible outcomes of _that_ particular conversation she wasn't sure she wanted to. "Hello, Jane. I know I've been acting strangely, but quick question, are you by any chance trying to get close to me so that when the time comes you can steamroll over me more easily in your quest for vengeance? Just thought I'd ask." Either Jane _was_ just using her to forward his own agenda (the _jerk_), in which case she really didn't know how she'd deal with it, either personally or professionally, _or_ she was acting like an idiot, and his motives were fairly pure. She guessed there was a third option as well, that there was absolutely nothing different between them in the first place, making her basically like a kind of science project he indulged in when he was bored. She wasn't sure which of the three possible outcomes displeased her the most, although a small part of her admitted that just this once she could probably deal with looking like an idiot.

The knock on her door nearly gave her a heart attack. Who on earth could that be? Unless it was someone else who lived in the building... She walked and checked her peephole, almost groaning audibly when she realized who was on the other side with his irritatingly cheery grin. She'd known that she didn't have much more time, but she'd been hoping for at least another day to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable conversation. Oh who was she kidding? She'd never be prepared for this. Maybe he would just go away...

Jane was relieved when she finally opened the door. He'd been worried that she'd pretend to not be home, or worse, refuse to let him in. "Hi Lisbon. And how are you on this lovely evening."

"I'm fine Jane. Did you want something?"

"I was bored, so I thought I'd come see how one of my favourite CBI agents was doing. Can I come in?"

She sighed, but figured that now that he was here she might as well get this over with. She stepped aside, and allowed him to pass into her apartment.

"Watching TV were you? I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, there was nothing on."

"Unsurprising. Hey! Do you have any ice cream?" Lisbon was always more agreeable when she had her treats. Why hadn't he thought to bring some?

"No, I'm all out."

"That's a pity. So..." He wasn't exactly sure how to bring up the change in her behaviour, without making her angry or defensive. Luckily she solved his problem by interrupting him.

"What are you doing Jane?"

What did she mean what was he doing? He was trying to figure out what was wrong with his friend. What did she think he was doing? "Right now? Well, I'm standing in your apartment talking to you. You've been acting strangely lately, and I was worried."

"_I've _been acting strangely! Jane, what about you? What's been going on these last few weeks? First you almost entirely stop prying into my life, and then all of a sudden we're spending a lot more time together, and you're being almost polite to some of the suspects... Our relationship is changing, and I want to know why. What exactly do you want from me Jane?"

"Want from you? What do you mean what do I want from you? I want to spend time with you. I want you to trust me."

"That's was this is about? You want me to trust you?" Lisbon sounded scandalized by the thought. "Why would you care if I trust you Jane? Why is it so important?

"I want us to be friends." Jane muttered, feeling silly. He was looking at her carpet, not at her eyes so he didn't notice when their change in expression at his admission. He didn't see what the big deal was. Why did _everyone_ seem to think this was so underhanded?

"You wanted us to be friends." Lisbon repeated calmly. Too calmly in his opinion.

"Yes. Friends. You know, two people in some sort of close relationship based on common traits or interests who spend some time together in a non-romantic but also non-work related setting? I didn't want to be just the thorn-in-your-side consultant you tolerated because you had to."

"So these last few weeks you were being nice to what, manipulate our relationship into the form you wanted?" She knew it sounded harsh, but Patrick Jane self-consciously shuffling his feet and telling her he wanted to be her friend was not really something that had fit into any of her prior views of the universe and she needed to get to the bottom of this. And if there's one thing she did know, it was that you never really knew what to expect with Jane.

"No! Stop being so cynical woman! I was just trying to be nice. I know you don't like it when I pry into your personal life, but I thought if you were more comfortable around me then you might talk to me anyways. I was just trying to get you to relax. Learn you could trust me, like I trust you. Then maybe we could be friends."

She almost gaped. Jane meant it. He did trust her. Really trusted her. That's what this had been about, at its core, trust? He'd been upset about that she realized, upset when she'd told him that she didn't trust him. Probably as upset as she'd been when she'd worried that maybe all their relationship was to him was a step on the road to killing a serial killer, a little voice in her head pointed out. Last week she'd thought maybe she'd trusted him, but then recently, given their jobs, she'd worried that opening up a bit might have been a mistake. To make sure there was absolutely no confusion she needed all the answers this time. "Why?"

"Why what?" He asked, genuinely confused. This conversation wasn't going like it was supposed to at all. He should have known as much with Lisbon.

"Why do you want to be friends so much?"

Now he was completely flabbergasted. Why did she think he wanted to be friends? How sick and twisted did she think he was? "Because I like you. I like talking to you. I like spending time with you. It's fun. And I thought you were having fun too. Why else?" At his wits end Jane waited for her reaction, and once again, it was nothing like what he'd expected.

She threw herself at him. Wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. _Lisbon was hugging him_. Man was she strong. Luckily his arms wrapped around her automatically, because he was pretty sure his brain had actually stopped working. Lisbon, self-sufficient, reserved, tough as nails, a-hand-on-the-shoulder-represented-noteworthy-bodily-contact Lisbon, was hugging him. He took this to be a good sign.

He wanted to be friends. It wasn't some sort of weird, twisted power-play. Just friends, real friends. She didn't have many of those; she guessed most people figured that with her being such a workaholic it was too much work. He hadn't just been screwing with her. She was surprised by just how much she _wanted_ to be friends with Jane, how much it had hurt when she'd thought he'd had ulterior motives. And he was right; she did have more fun when he was around, even if she pretended otherwise. She liked the attention, liked the idea that someone might care what she was doing with her time. She could do a friendship with Jane, assuming he stopped tiptoeing around her like an elephant in a minefield and went back to normal of course. Well as normal as Jane ever got; all this overly cautious Jane freaked her out a bit. Speaking of going back to normal, she was still hugging him. He must think she'd gone crazy.

The hug ended as abruptly as it had begun. Jane noticed that Lisbon seemed to be having trouble meeting his eyes, but she was smiling.

"Alright then, I guess this calls for the good ice cream."

"I thought you said you were out?" Still a bit stunned, Jane felt the need to state that fact, and to reference their earlier conversation. Lisbon lying to him, or trying to lie to him. Familiar ground. Excellent_._ All was well...Wait a minute, how had he not noticed she'd been lying? Crafty, crafty Lisbon.

She shrugged as she got out two spoons, "Of the normal stuff yeah. We'll have to break into my secret back-up stash. Grab the bowls from that cupboard would you?"

Obediently he grabbed two bowls from the nearby cupboard. As he watched her haul things out of her freezer he asked, "You sure you want me knowing where you keep your emergency stash?"

She shrugged as she pulled out the tub from the back corner of her freezer. Her voice sounded casual, but when she turned to face him the expression in her eyes gave her away, "I guess I'll just have to trust you."

Jane merely smiled as he handed his friend the bowls. As usual, he understood what she couldn't say. It looked like Operation Lisbon could finally and officially be declared a success.

The End


End file.
